Topeka ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday issued an executive order prohibiting sexual harassment in major state agencies and urged all Kansas employers to review their policies.

“Every American has the right to a safe workplace, free of discrimination,” Sebelius said. “And it is the duty of state government to take a leadership role in the establishment of policies of nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunity.”

The order follows failure by lawmakers during the last session to enact legislation barring sexual harassment of state workers and an action by Sebelius’ predecessor, Gov. Bill Graves, who before leaving office rescinded a 1982 executive order dealing with sexual harassment.

Graves administration officials had said that the previous executive order barring sexual discrimination was no longer needed because federal laws covered the subject.

But Sebelius chief counsel Matt All said: “We weren’t confident those laws extended to the state because of some recent Supreme Court decisions. We want to make sure that each agency has a policy on sexual harassment.”

Sebelius’ order covers state agencies under the executive branch of government and requires them to develop and enforce “both a strong policy prohibiting sexual harassment and an internal system for investigating sexual harassment complaints and disciplining offenders.”

Those are to be submitted to Administration Secretary Howard Fricke before the end of the year.

The order also requires agency chiefs to provide employees with training on the subject of sexual harassment.