A customer assaulted an employee. What happens after everyone is safe?

Short answer: violence by a customer, client, patient, passenger, visitor, or other recipient of a service is generally Type 2 workplace violence. Get people to safety and arrange medical care first. Then preserve evidence, handle any injury-reporting duties, make a de-identified violent incident log entry, investigate what allowed the incident to happen, correct the hazard, and review the prevention plan.

🚨 Safety and medical care first 📝 Log and investigate after the scene is stable

Last reviewed July 13, 2026 against Cal/OSHA's general-industry guidance. General information, not legal advice.

The checklist, in order

Make the scene safe

Call 911 if danger is continuing or anyone needs emergency help. Separate people, keep employees and customers away from the area, and do not ask staff to physically intervene.

Arrange care and confirm the injury facts

Get appropriate medical care. If an employee was hurt, find out whether the event was work-connected and whether treatment went beyond first aid. Serious-injury reporting and workers' compensation steps depend on those facts.

Preserve what already exists

Save camera footage before it overwrites, preserve messages or receipts that identify the event, and note witnesses. Keep the original files when possible and record who collected them.

Make the violent incident log entry

Record the date, time, location, Type 2 classification, circumstances, consequences, response, and corrective actions. Do not put names or other personal identifying information in the log.

Investigate beyond the customer's conduct

Ask what conditions contributed: staffing, layout, visibility, cash handling, closing procedures, access control, or a known escalation pattern. Interview witnesses separately and write down the findings.

Correct the hazards you found

Assign each change an owner and a date. A correction can be physical, procedural, or staffing-related; it should match the facts of this incident rather than a generic checklist.

Review the plan and retrain where needed

Date the post-incident review. Update the written plan if the investigation found a new or previously unrecognized hazard, and train affected employees on any changed procedure.

No physical injury? The incident may still belong in the violent incident log. SB 553 covers qualifying threats and uses of physical force; the log is not limited to workers' compensation claims.

Official sources

Cal/OSHA general-industry guidance

The state's overview of violence types, logging, investigations, corrections, and plan review.

Cal/OSHA workplace-violence FAQ

Answers about what must be logged and how employers may maintain the log.

Labor Code § 6401.9

The statutory requirements for the plan, log, investigations, records, and employee access.