What goes in a California workplace violence incident log, and how long do you keep it?

A California workplace violence incident log is the written record that Labor Code section 6401.9 requires an employer to keep for every workplace violence incident, whether or not anyone is hurt. Each entry has nine required items, it may not contain information that identifies anyone involved, and the log must be kept for at least five years. This page covers the paper trail that follows a plan. For the plan itself, see my guide on whether your business needs a workplace violence prevention plan.

What is a workplace violence incident log?

A workplace violence incident log, which the statute calls the violent incident log, is a running record of every act or threat of violence at a place of employment. It is separate from the written plan and separate from an injury log, and it has to exist whenever the plan does. I read the statute at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov on October 22, 2026, and every requirement below comes from that text.

Three rules shape how you fill it in. The employer must record an entry for every incident. The entry must be based on information from the employees who experienced the violence, witness statements and investigation findings. And the log must be reviewed during the periodic reviews of the plan, which the statute requires at least annually, when a deficiency appears and after a workplace violence incident. At a multiemployer worksite, the employer whose employees experienced the incident records it and gives a copy of the log to the controlling employer.

What information must each log entry include?

Each entry must include the date, time and location of the incident, plus eight more items the statute lists. Here is the full set, in the statute’s order:

• Date, time and location of the incident.
• The workplace violence type or types involved: Type 1 (a person with no legitimate business at the site), Type 2 (customers, clients, patients, students, inmates or visitors), Type 3 (a present or former employee, supervisor or manager) or Type 4 (a person with a personal relationship to an employee).
• A detailed description of the incident.
• A classification of who committed the violence: a client or customer, family or friend of a client or customer, a stranger with criminal intent, a coworker, a supervisor or manager, a partner or spouse, a parent or relative, or another perpetrator.
• A classification of the circumstances: usual job duties, poorly lit areas, rushed, low staffing, isolated or alone, unable to get help, working in a community setting, or an unfamiliar or new location.
• A classification of where it happened: in the workplace, in the parking lot or other area outside the workplace, or another area.
• The type of incident, such as a physical attack without a weapon, an attack with a weapon or object, a threat of physical force or of a weapon, a sexual assault or threat, an animal attack, or another type.
• The consequences: whether security or law enforcement was contacted and how they responded, and what actions were taken to protect employees from a continuing threat or other hazards the incident revealed.
• Who completed the log: their name, job title and the date completed.

The statute’s lists use the phrase “including, but not limited to” for the circumstances and incident types, so a form with more checkboxes than the minimum is fine. A form with fewer is not. Build your template from this list and you will not miss a field.

Who can see the log, and what must stay private?

Employees and their representatives can ask to see the log, and the employer must give them a copy at no cost within 15 calendar days of the request. The log itself must omit any personal identifying information sufficient to identify a person involved, including a name, address, email address, telephone number, Social Security number, or other information that, alone or combined with publicly available information, reveals who the person is.

Two details trip employers up. First, the privacy rule covers every person involved, not just the victim. A description that says “the cashier from the Tuesday closing shift” may identify someone in a ten-person store, so describe roles and circumstances in general terms. Second, incident investigation records carry a separate restriction: they may not contain “medical information,” as Civil Code section 56.05 defines it. The employee access sentence in the statute names the hazard records, training records and the log. Investigation records are listed separately, and the statute makes all required records available to Cal/OSHA on request for examination and copying.

How long must employers keep the log, investigations and training records?

Keep the incident log, investigation records and hazard records for at least five years, and training records for at least one year. The statute sets these as minimums, so keeping a record longer does not violate it. This is the retention schedule, quoted from subdivision (f):

Record	Minimum retention	What the statute says it must include
Violent incident log	5 years	The nine items above, with personal identifying information omitted
Incident investigation records	5 years	No “medical information”
Hazard identification, evaluation and correction records	5 years	Created and maintained for each hazard
Training records	1 year	Training dates, contents or a summary, names and qualifications of the trainers, and names and job titles of everyone who attended

My practical rule is to keep training records on the same five-year schedule as the log. Two reasons: the plan has to be reviewed against incidents over time, and a gap between a five-year log and a one-year training file makes it hard to show that the people involved in an old incident had been trained. That is a habit I recommend, not a statutory requirement. Pair it with a yearly HR audit so the records stay current, and keep the annual training itself on the same calendar as your harassment prevention training if that helps your team remember it.

What counts as an incident that belongs in the log?

An incident belongs in the log when it is an act or threat of violence at a place of employment, even if no one was injured. The statute defines workplace violence as any act of violence or threat of violence that occurs in a place of employment, and it names several examples.

• Threat or use of physical force against an employee that results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, psychological trauma or stress, regardless of whether the employee is injured.
• An incident involving a threat or use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, including common objects used as weapons, regardless of injury.
• A threat of violence, which includes any verbal or written statement, such as a text, an electronic message, a social media message or another online post, and any behavior or physical conduct that conveys or is reasonably perceived to convey an intent to cause physical harm or place someone in fear of it, and that serves no legitimate purpose.

The statute excludes lawful acts of self-defense or defense of others. When a case is unclear, I log it. A short entry on a borderline event costs minutes, while a missing entry on an event that turns out to matter costs far more. Threats that arrive by text or social media count, so check where your team receives them. The same record protects anyone who reports an event, which ties to your retaliation exposure, because the plan must prohibit retaliation against an employee who reports workplace violence.

What does Cal/OSHA look for in a records review?

Cal/OSHA can ask for any of these records, and the statute gives a reviewer concrete things to test. It enforces the section by issuing a citation and a notice of civil penalty, which an employer can appeal to the appeals board. I have not seen Cal/OSHA publish an inspector checklist for these records, so treat the list below as what the statute makes checkable, not as a statement of inspection practice.

• An entry for every incident, with all nine items completed.
• No personal identifying information in the log.
• Evidence the log was reviewed during the annual plan review and after incidents.
• Hazard records showing inspections when the plan was first established, after each incident and when a new hazard appeared.
• Training records with dates, contents, trainer names and qualifications, and attendee names and job titles.
• Retention that meets the minimums, and records you can produce on request.

Cal/OSHA also publishes fact sheets, a fillable written plan and frequently asked questions on its workplace violence prevention page, which I read on October 22, 2026. The same page says the Standards Board must adopt a general industry standard no later than December 31, 2026. I track the draft in my post on the draft standard. The log requirement above is in force today, so build the log now. If you want someone to compare your plan, log and training file against the statute, my compliance checkup does that, and the California HR compliance checklist shows where this sits among your other requirements. I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice.

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.

Data current as of October 2026. Sources are linked where each figure appears.