If an insured organization has an experience modification factor of 2.0 or greater, the workers’ compensation insurer must review the organization’s IIPP within six months of the initial policy term.2 The experience modification rate is an adjustment that an insurer makes to the workers’ compensation insurance premium of organizations that meet or exceed a certain size. Insurers assign an experience modification factor to each insured company based on that organization’s size.

IIPP Exemptions

Some employers have different written record keeping requirements, some of which you may be exempt from if you are an establishment with:

• Fewer than 20 employees during the calendar year, in an industry that is not on the designated high hazard list and you have a Workers’ Compensation Experience Modification Rate (ExMod) of 1.1 percent or less; or
• Fewer than 20 employees during the calendar year and on a designated list of low hazard industries.

If you fall into one of these two categories, you can limit written IIPP documentation to the following information:

• The identity of people with authority and responsibility for program implementation, as required by Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, sec. 3203 (a)(1);
• Scheduled periodic inspections to identify unsafe conditions and work practices, as required by Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, sec. 3203 (a)(4); and
• Training and instruction provided to employees, as required by Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations sec. 3203 (a)(7).

Local government entities are not required to keep records of steps taken to implement and maintain their IIPPs. Local government entities include:

• Counties, cities and districts;
• Public or quasi-public corporations;
• Public agencies; and
• Any public entity, other than a state agency, that is a member of or created by a joint powers agreement.

Creating a Written IIPP

You can use the Injury and Illness Prevention Program for Non-High Hazard Employers to help you get started. Your written plan must specify:

• Management’s approval of the plan.
• The people responsible for implementing the plan.
• A company safety policy statement.
• A system to identify workplace hazards.
• A plan for periodic scheduled inspections in which you choose the frequency, depending on how hazardous your work environment is. Cover the Emergency Action Plan as part of your periodic IIPP inspections.
• A plan for correcting unsafe or unhealthy conditions.
• A plan for investigating injuries.
• A plan for safety training.
• How you will communicate with employees about safety.
• The record keeping and posting requirements and any exceptions to them.3

• Injury and Illness Prevention Program for Non-High Hazard Employers

If you employ fewer than 10 employees, you can:

• Communicate to and instruct employees orally about safe work practices.
• Choose to maintain records of inspections only until the hazards identified are corrected.
• Document training by maintaining an instruction log that you provide to a new employee or to an employee reassigned to new duties.

Seasonal employers can use a model program designed specifically for seasonal employers, available at the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) website. Additional IIPP requirements apply to specific industries, such as the construction and petroleum industries.

Employers must provide employees with access to their written IIPP upon request.4 Cal/OSHA regulations specify that employers must provide access in a reasonable time, place, manner, but not later than five business days after the employee’s request. Employees may give written authorization to a designated representative who may exercise this right of access. The employer must provide a written copy of the IIPP program, unless the employee agrees to receive an electronic copy. The IIPP provided to the employee doesn’t need to include any of the records of the steps taken to implement and maintain the program. Employers must inform their employees of their right to access the IIPP and the procedures for doing so.

Training Requirements for IIPP

Training is required any time you:

• Implement your IIPP;
• Assign a new employee to a position;
• Transfer an existing employee to a new position; or
• Make changes to workplace conditions.

Provide refresher training as necessary. You can use the Initial Safety Training Certificate form to document training sessions.

• Initial Safety Training Certificate

Construction employers working in counties where a highly prevalent fungal infection called Valley Fever exists must provide annual employee training on Valley Fever, as well as training before an employee begins work that’s “reasonably anticipated” to expose them to the fungus. The law requires the training to cover certain topics and gives employers the option to include the training either in their IIPP or as a standalone program. Training isn’t required during the county’s first year being listed as highly prevalent for Valley Fever, but training is required in subsequent years. At the time of publication, the law affects employers in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Monterey, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties.5

Recordkeeping and Recording

All occupational illnesses and any injury that requires medical treatment beyond first aid must be investigated, recorded and reported. You can use the Accident, Injury and Illness Investigation form to help you document the incident.

• Accident, Injury and Illness Investigation

In addition, see the recording and reporting requirements discussed in Cal/OSHA Requirements and Inspections.

Provide your employees a mechanism to anonymously report safety concerns.

IIPP and COVID-19

• As of February 3, 2025, California’s COVID-19 prevention regulatory requirements largely expired, except for the reporting and recording requirements under 8 CCR subsection 3205(j).

In December 2022, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) adopted a two-year non-emergency COVID-19 prevention regulation to replace the previous COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that Cal/OSHA adopted in 2020. The standard required employers to address COVID-19 as a workplace hazard through their Injury and Illness Prevention Programs, including, for example:

• Identifying and responding to employees with COVID-19 symptoms;
• Excluding COVID-19 cases from the workplace;
• COVID-19 testing, face covering, respirator and ventilation requirements;
• Reporting major outbreaks to Cal/OSHA; and
• Various requirements related to employer-provided transportation and housing.

With these requirements set to expire on February 3, employers have more flexibility in addressing COVID-19 in the workplace based on their specific business operations and circumstances.

The only provision that remains in effect is the regulation’s recordkeeping requirements, under which must keep a record of and track all cases of COVID-19 in their workplace. Records must include the following information:

• The employee’s name;
• Contact information;
• Employee’s workplace location;
• Date of the employee’s last day worked; and
• Date of the positive test or COVID-19 diagnosis.

Employers must retain these records for at least two years. Additionally, employers must maintain COVID-19 exposure notice records that they issued under the COVID-19 regulation or California’s now-expired COVID-19 exposure notice law (Labor Code section 6409.6). Employers must provide the records to local health departments and government agencies when required by law or on request.6

These recordkeeping requirements apply until February 3, 2026.

Though the COVID-19 prevention regulations have largely expired, employers must still provide a safe and healthy workplace, per Labor Code section 6400, and maintain an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP). In other words, depending on the circumstances, employers should still evaluate COVID-19 as a potential workplace hazard under their IIPP and, if needed, put appropriate precautions and procedures in place. Employers should consult legal counsel with questions related to the circumstances specific to their worksites.

Workplace Violence Prevention Plan

• California enacted general industry workplace violence safety requirements applicable to nearly all California employers and is under the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) jurisdiction. Since July 1, 2024, covered employers have several workplace violence prevention obligations, including:

• Establishing, implementing and maintaining a comprehensive and highly detailed written “workplace violence prevention plan;”
• Training your workforce on your workplace violence prevention plan;
• Utilizing a violent incident log for each instance of workplace violence involving your employees; and
• Record retention.

Employers can use CalChamber’s Workplace Violence Prevention Checklist to help develop and implement their workplace violence prevention plans. Read more about employers’ workplace violence prevention obligations in California Workplace Violence Prevention Standards.

1. 8 CCR sec. 3203

2. Lab. Code sec. 6401.7(l)

3. 8 CCR sec. 3203

4. 8 CCR sec. 3203(a)(8)(A)-(F)

5. Lab. Code sec. 6709

6.8 CCR sec. 3205(j)