§ 27-b. Duty of public employers to develop and implement programs to\nprevent workplace violence. 1. Purpose. The purpose of this section is\nto ensure that the risk of workplace assaults and homicides is evaluated\nby affected public employers and their employees and that such employers\ndesign and implement workplace violence protection programs to prevent\nand minimize the hazard of workplace violence to public employees.\n 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this section:\n a. "Employer" means: (1) the state; (2) a political subdivision of the\nstate; (3) a public authority, a public benefit corporation, or any\nother governmental agency or instrumentality thereof; and (4) an\nauthorized agency as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision ten of\nsection three hundred seventy-one of the social services law that\naccepts children adjudicated delinquent under article three of the\nfamily court act.\n b. "Employee" means a public employee working for an employer.\n c. "Workplace" means any location away from an employee's domicile,\npermanent or temporary, where an employee performs any work-related duty\nin the course of his or her employment by an employer.\n d. "Supervisor" means any person within an employer's organization who\nhas the authority to direct and control the work performance of an\nemployee, or who has the authority to take corrective action regarding\nthe violation of a law, rule or regulation to which an employee submits\nwritten notice.\n e. "Retaliatory action" means the discharge, suspension, demotion,\npenalization, or discrimination against any employee, or other adverse\nemployment action taken against an employee in the terms and conditions\nof employment.\n 3. Risk evaluation and determination. Every employer shall evaluate\nits workplace or workplaces to determine the presence of factors or\nsituations in such workplace or workplaces that might place employees at\nrisk of occupational assaults and homicides. Examples of such factors\nshall include, but not limited to:\n a. working in public settings (e.g., social services or other\ngovernmental workers, police officers, firefighters, teachers, public\ntransportation drivers, health care workers, and service workers);\n b. working late night or early morning hours;\n c. exchanging money with the public;\n d. working alone or in small numbers;\n e. uncontrolled access to the workplace; and\n f. areas of previous security problems.\n 4. Written workplace violence prevention program. Every employer with\nat least twenty full time permanent employees shall develop and\nimplement a written workplace violence prevention program for its\nworkplace or workplaces that includes the following:\n a. a list of the risk factors identified in subdivision three of this\nsection that are present in such workplace or workplaces;\n b. the methods the employer will use to prevent incidents of\noccupational assaults and homicides at such workplace or workplaces,\nincluding but not limited to the following:\n (1) making high-risk areas more visible to more people;\n (2) installing good external lighting;\n (3) using drop safes or other methods to minimize cash on hand;\n (4) posting signs stating that limited cash is on hand;\n (5) providing training in conflict resolution and nonviolent\nself-defense responses; and\n (6) establishing and implementing reporting systems for incidents of\naggressive behavior.\n 5. Employee information and training. a. Every employer with at least\ntwenty permanent full time employees shall make the written workplace\nviolence prevention program available, upon request, to its employees,\ntheir designated representatives and the department.\n b. Every employer shall provide its employees with the following\ninformation and training on the risks of occupational assaults and\nhomicides in their workplace or workplaces at the time of their initial\nassignment and annually thereafter:\n (1) employees shall be informed of
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