Status: Enacted — Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 27, 2024. Cal/OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board must adopt implementing standards by March 1, 2027; covered hospitals must comply within 90 days of standard finalization (earliest possible compliance deadline approximately June 2027).

Citation: California Labor Code § 6401.9 (added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 875, AB 2975)

Jurisdiction: California

Category: Hospital Security, Workplace Violence Prevention, Automated Weapons Detection

Industries: Healthcare (General Acute Care Hospitals, Acute Psychiatric Hospitals, Special Hospitals)

Enacted Date: September 27, 2024

Effective Date: January 1, 2025 (statute); operational compliance triggered by Cal/OSHA standards no later than March 1, 2027, with a 90-day implementation window thereafter.

Summary: California AB 2975 amends Labor Code § 6401.9 — the state’s underlying healthcare workplace violence prevention statute — to require every general acute care hospital, acute psychiatric hospital, and special hospital licensed under Health and Safety Code § 1250(a), (b), or (f) to deploy automated weapons detection screening at three defined entrances: the main hospital entrance, the emergency department entrance, and the labor-and-delivery entrance (if separately located). The statute directs the Cal/OSHA Standards Board to promulgate implementing regulations no later than March 1, 2027, and gives covered hospitals 90 days from finalization to achieve compliance. AB 2975 is the first statewide mandate of automated weapons detection at hospital entrances in the United States and effectively sets the operational template other states are now studying.

Key Requirements:

Automated screening at three entrances: Covered hospitals must install automated body-screening technology at the main entrance, the emergency department entrance, and the labor-and-delivery entrance (where physically separate). Handheld magnetometer wands may supplement but cannot substitute for the automated system.
Trained non-clinical operators: Trained, non-clinical personnel must operate the screening system whenever the entrance is open. Training must cover de-escalation, equipment operation, and implicit bias.
Written weapons detection screening policy: Hospitals must adopt, document, and maintain a screening policy as part of the existing facility-specific workplace violence prevention plan required by Labor Code § 6401.9.
Integration with workplace violence prevention plan: Screening practices, alarm response, secondary screening, and incident handling must be incorporated into the hospital’s WVPP, the violent-incident log, and annual employee training.
Cal/OSHA rulemaking: The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board must adopt detailed standards by March 1, 2027 governing equipment performance, signage, secondary screening, accommodations, and recordkeeping.

Enforcement & Penalties: Enforced by Cal/OSHA under the existing Labor Code § 6401.9 framework. Violations are subject to Cal/OSHA citation, abatement orders, and civil penalties consistent with general industry workplace violence prevention enforcement. The statute also strengthens employee rights to report violations without retaliation.

Affected Entities: All California-licensed general acute care hospitals (Health & Safety Code § 1250(a)), acute psychiatric hospitals (§ 1250(b)), and special hospitals (§ 1250(f)), with statutory exclusions for hospitals operated by the California Department of State Hospitals, the California Department of Developmental Services, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. More than 400 licensed hospitals are within scope.

IntelliSee Relevance: Very High. AB 2975 establishes the strictest hospital-entrance weapons-detection mandate in the country, and California hospitals are actively scoping vendors during the 2026 budget cycle to meet the March 2027 standard finalization and follow-on 90-day compliance window. IntelliSee’s AI gun detection complements automated body-screening hardware by extending continuous, 24/7 weapons monitoring beyond the three screened entrances — covering lobbies, corridors, ambulance bays, parking structures, and visitor waiting areas where firearms can still appear after an initial screening point. The platform produces timestamped visual evidence that supports the WVPP documentation, violent-incident log, and post-incident investigation requirements California operators must already maintain under Labor Code § 6401.9. Because IntelliSee uses no facial recognition and no biometric identification, it aligns with the privacy and bias-mitigation expectations Cal/OSHA is incorporating into the AB 2975 rulemaking. Hospitals planning AB 2975 implementation in 2026 should evaluate layered detection (entrance screening plus continuous visual analytics) rather than treating the entrance system as a stand-alone control.

Compliance Timeline

September 27, 2024 — Governor Newsom signs AB 2975 into law.
January 1, 2025 — Statute takes effect; Cal/OSHA Standards Board rulemaking process begins.
2026 — Stakeholder consultation, draft standards, and pre-rulemaking workshops at Cal/OSHA. Hospitals should be scoping vendors, securing capital, and updating WVPP language now.
March 1, 2027 — Statutory deadline for Cal/OSHA Standards Board to adopt the implementing standards.
~June 2027 (earliest) — 90-day post-finalization compliance window closes; covered hospitals must be operationally compliant.

Related Legislation & Resources

Bill text and history: California Legislative Information — AB 2975 (2023-2024)

California Hospital Weapons Detection Screening (AB 2975, 2024)

Compliance Timeline

Related Legislation & Resources

Turn Legislative Mandates Into a Working Safety Program