Dr. Steve Albrecht: “Workplace Violence Prevention: Following the California Mandates For a Safe Library”

Workplace violence comes to libraries in many concerning forms, including threats or assaults on staff; patrons assaulting each other; and domestic violence involving patrons or even crossing over from home to work with staff. Sadly, we have seen shootings and homicides involving patrons in or around our public libraries move from quite rare to more common, and have seen police officers killed responding to calls with armed people inside libraries.

As of July 1, the legislators in California enacted Senate Bill 553, which now mandates workplace violence training, policies, incident logs, site security assessments, and demonstrated due diligence in recognizing and responding to threats made to public facilities and private organizations and their employees. This law covers every employer in California with 10 or more employees, which means most public libraries must follow the new guidelines, which will be enforced by OSHA. As with most new and required legislation of this type, its origin was based on a shooting incident in San Jose at a light rail facility in 2021, that ended with the death of nine employees at the hands of a co-worker.

While the legislation is specific to California, the principles and policies are worth considering by all libraries. This session will help library leaders and employees, not just in California but in every state, to better understand and respond to the potential for workplace violence in all its forms.

Dr. Albrecht will provide a template, based on the California requirements, that all libraries can follow to make their buildings safer, build awareness of the behavioral problems most likely to lead to violence, and for California libraries specifically demonstrate compliance with the national OSHA standard long known as “the duty of care,” which states: “All employers must provide a work environment free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.”

About the Speaker

DR. STEVE ALBRECHT. Since 2000, Dr. Steve Albrecht has trained thousands of library employees in 28+ states, live and online, in service, safety, security, and supervision. His programs are fast, entertaining, and provide tools that can be put to use immediately in the library workspace with all types of patrons. In 2015, the ALA published his book, Library Security: Better Communication, Safer Facilities. He is currently writing the sequel, The Safe Library: Keeping Users, Staff, and Collections Secure, for Rowman & Littlefield.  Steve holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration (D.B.A.), an M.A. in Security Management, a B.A. in English, and a B.S. in Psychology. He is board-certified in HR, security management, employee coaching, and threat assessment.  He has written 24 books on business, security, and leadership topics. He lives with six dogs, two cats, and three chickens. (Not all in the same room, of course.)