VTA’s Workplace Violence Prevention Plan is now in place as required by Senate Bill 553. The law was authored by South Bay Senator Dave Cortese, partially in response to the tragedy at VTA’s light rail yard in May 2021.
SB 553 expands workplace violence prevention policies to a broader set of employers, raising the bar to ensure places of employment are safe and secure. VTA is committed to establishing stronger protections for transit workers to address potential or real threats of violence. The new law brings enhanced training for employers and their transit workers and a clear path to reporting and preventing workplace violence.
To make things a little easier to digest, we have pulled out key points of the plan into shorter summaries to give you an idea of what the plan addresses. These include who manages the plan, how to report a workplace violence incident, who takes the report, and how it is investigated. You can learn more about the review committee set up to ensure balanced participation and oversight of the plan between labor and management and which types of behavior are outlined as zero tolerance at VTA. The complete plan is accessible here.
Moving forward, annual training will be scheduled so that every VTA transit worker can learn the plan's details and how it can work for them. This information is also available on the Hub.
How to Report Workplace Violence
Call 9-1-1 for immediate threats and notify a supervisor when safe. Submit a written or verbal report to your immediate supervisor or by using the VTA Violent Incident Report Form.
Contact VTA’s Workplace Violence Prevention PlanHotline at (408) 321-2397 or ERComplaints@vta.org.
Supervisors and managers will ensure reports are processed and investigated promptly, with follow-up communication provided to the reporting employee.
New Procedures for Responding to Workplace Violence Reports
VTA has developed new procedures for responding to workplace violence emergencies, ensuring both preparedness and transparency. Key measures include:
Ways to Report:
- When encountering an immediate threat of violence, contact 9-1-1. Then, contact their immediate Supervisor/management when it is safe.
- File a written report using the VTA Violent Incident Report Form or submit a verbal report to their immediate Supervisor/management.
- Contact the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Hotline at 408-321-2397 or by email at ERComplaints@vta.org.
- Contact any VTA Supervision Executive Management or VTA Security Personnel. .
Committees: The Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Review Committee (WVPPRC) reviews the WVPP and ensures its effectiveness, while the Threat Assessment Team (TAT) investigates incidents and provides feedback. The TAT's efforts to investigate all reported workplace violence incidents and the WVPPRC's work to ensure the plan's continued effectiveness ensure a thorough plan in place.
Record Keeping: Incident logs and investigation records are kept for a minimum of five years and are accessible to employees upon request. These procedures, coordinated by VTA committees, ensure a comprehensive approach to managing workplace violence risks.
Post-incident response and investigation will ensure all internal and external notifications are made, including relocation of transit workers to a safe area in the event of a workplace violence incident, provide emergency responders with access to facilities, implement lawful defensive measures, and provide first aid when safe to do so, among other things. Post-incident responders will perform continuous monitoring and follow-up actions as appropriate and develop recommendations for appropriate responses to resolve incidents.
Communicating During a Workplace Violence Emergency
Detailed maps of evacuation routes and Emergency Response Team (ERT) members to assist during site emergencies will be posted around the workplace. Transit workers should call 9-1-1 in emergencies and follow posted instructions for summoning external agencies. On board VTA vehicles, transit workers can access panic buttons to alert the Operations Control Center (OCC) of emergencies. Notices will be posted on electronic screens and boards at various VTA properties. VTA is working on improvements to implement the Everbridge emergency notification program, details on that plan will be forthcoming.
Procedure for accepting reports and responding to them
VTA's new procedure for addressing workplace violence ensures transit workers can report incidents without fear of retaliation. Under this procedure, employees can call 9-1-1 in emergencies. Transit workers can report workplace violence without facing discipline or retaliation. Reports can be made to VTA or law enforcement. All reports will be promptly investigated, and transit workers will be informed of the investigation results and any corrective actions taken. Retaliation against any transit worker for reporting workplace violence is strictly prohibited and subject to disciplinary action.
Training
The WVPP plan requires all transit workers to be trained in the plan for reporting workplace violence incidents, including identifying, reporting, and responding to potential workplace violence. Authority-wide training sessions will equip transit workers with practical skills for identifying and responding to potential threats. Each division and department will coordinate training sessions to accommodate transit worker schedules, and they will be notified when to sign up for training sessions.
Who’s Responsible for Enforcing WVPP?
The VTA Chief of System Safety and Security facilitates and manages the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP). This department will coordinate with the Threat Assessment Team (TAT) and may designate a representative to facilitate duties and responsibilities relating to the Plan. Under the leadership of the Chief of System Safety and Security, resources and support to implement corrective actions associated with findings of workplace violence incident investigations may be provided. This team will also serve as the liaison between VTA, law enforcement agencies, and external regulatory agencies.
The Chief Operating Officer directs Operations Workforce Development and JWI to train and educate all transit workers on the WVPP.
Two principle committees have been established to manage and mitigate workplace violence risks to ensure a safe work environment for everyone. 1. The Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Review Committee (WVPPRC) is a joint labor/management committee responsible for reviewing the WVPP and assessing the effectiveness of workplace violence security risk hazards. 2. The Threat Assessment Team (TAT) will be led by Employee Relations to investigate workplace violence incidents, perform post-incident responses and provide feedback on security risk hazard identification