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Safety/Health

Employee’s infection proves costly to Liz Claiborne store

01/01/2008

When an employee with an unidentified infection came to work at the Liz Claiborne Outlet Store at Lighthouse Place in Michigan City, management feared it might be MRSA and closed the store to disinfect it …

St. Vincent Hospital fires worker over threatening note

01/01/2008

A white environmental services attendant recently sued St. Vincent Carmel Hospital, claiming racial discrimination and retaliation. He was fired for violating the hospital’s anti-violence policy …

Philadelphia leads nation in workplace homicides

01/01/2008

Nearly one in four Philadelphia-area workers who died on the job in 2006 was a homicide victim, the highest proportion in the nation. The U.S. Labor Department reported in December that 89 workers in the area died on the job in 2006, 22 of them by homicide …

OMG! TWD is nothing to LOL about: Set policy to ease ‘Texting-While-Driving’ risks

12/11/2007

People who send text messages while driving are three times more likely to crash than other drivers, and distracted driving accounts for 80% of all accidents. You need a policy that prohibits employees from texting while driving on company business. Here’s why it’s important and how to craft your policy.

EEOC Eyes the New Breed of Wellness Programs

12/11/2007

With health insurance premiums outpacing inflation for what feels like the hundredth year in a row, employers are looking for innovative ways to cut costs. Many are taking a fresh look at wellness programs. So is the EEOC.

Making spirits bright: 10 holiday perks to ease employee stress

12/04/2007

The holiday season can be an exceptionally stressful and busy time for your employees. And of course, frazzled, frantic and depressed doesn’t equal high productivity. Try these timesaving, stress-relieving perks to ease employees’ minds and their calendars—and improve retention.

Ohio Supreme Court limits ‘Voluntary abandonment’ doctrine

12/01/2007

The Ohio Supreme Court has substantially limited the “voluntary abandonment” doctrine in claims for temporary total disability compensation under the Ohio Workers’ Compensation Act. That means employers may have to pay temporary total disability payments to employees even if they were injured while breaking safety rules …

Heart attack at work? Be prepared to prove stress wasn’t the cause

12/01/2007

The New York workers’ compensation system was set up as a no-fault system to compensate employees injured while working. There’s a powerful presumption under the system that any death that occurs during working hours is covered, at least if there’s an arguable claim that it was work-related. That’s why employees who have fatal heart attacks at work may sometimes be covered …

Applying for Special Disability Fund? Make sure you fill out forms correctly

12/01/2007

Employers and workers’ compensation carriers can sometimes be partially reimbursed for workers’ comp payments if prior injuries contributed to an employee’s inability to work. But applying to the Special Disability Fund requires careful completion of the application forms—the agency that handles such requests is often a stickler for details, and courts usually uphold the agency’s decisions …

Workplace injuries and illnesses fall to lowest level on record

12/01/2007

Good news for your organization, employees and workers’ comp costs: U.S. workplace injury/illness rates have fallen to their lowest point since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking those numbers in 1972 …