Safety/Health

The painful truth: Prescription drug abuse on the rise at work

01/25/2016

Employee drug abuse continues to be the trend that just won’t go away. And it’s not just illegal drugs causing problems these days.

Ignore safety issues, prepare to pay up

01/07/2016

Dollar Tree has had to give up some green following an OSHA investigation that uncovered a series of recurring safety issues that the discount retail chain failed to address until the authorities forced it to. Dollar Tree late last year agreed to settle 13 OSHA citations by paying fines totaling $825,000.

How to accommodate employees and job applicants with HIV

01/03/2016

The EEOC last month published Living with HIV Infection, which explains how employees and applicants are protected from bias and harassment due to their HIV status.

OSHA launches violence prevention in health care site

12/22/2015

Noting that health care workers are more than four times more likely than other employees to experience workplace violence, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched a new website to help health care providers curtail violence at work.

OSHA fines to spike by 80%; first increase since 1990

11/09/2015

For the first time in 25 years, employers hit by federal workplace safety violations will see an increase in financial penalties, thanks to a little-noticed provision tucked into a budget bill signed by President Obama on Nov. 2.

Download a new guide explaining OSHA training standards

10/28/2015

OSHA has released a new guide spelling out the occupational safety and health training employers must provide to workers.

Sometimes you’re justified to order mental exam

10/17/2015

As long as you can show a business necessity for asking an employee to undergo a mental examination, there’s no ADA or Fair Employment and Housing Act liability. Erratic, insubordinate behavior that continues after a request to stop is a good business reason.

Encourage employees to get flu shots early

10/09/2015

Forty-five percent of employees who get sick with the flu believe they caught it from someone at work, according to the medical journal “Clinical Infectious Diseases.” It’s a timely reminder that influenza season will soon be upon us, and that it’s not too early to urge employees to get flu shots.

Fired for gun in trunk: Can employee sue?

10/05/2015

A court is about to tackle a tricky issue: Does a state law authorizing employees who park in company lots to keep guns locked in their trunks also create a right to sue if the employee is fired for gun possession?

Prepare for more whistle-blower retaliation complaints

09/30/2015

Heed OSHA’s memo stressing that it only needs “reasonable cause” to find merit in one.