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Safety/Health

Appeals court upholds whistle-blower’s award

03/29/2013
Federal appeals courts are becoming more sympathetic to employees who report workplace dangers. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has backed a plaintiff who says he suffered retaliation for claiming he was traumatized by a workplace accident.

Avoid OSHA: Post injury/illness summary until April 30

02/11/2013
Starting Feb. 1 each year, many U.S. employers are required to post a summary of the number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in the workplace the previous year. The posting must typically stay up until April 30.

Why bother with job descriptions? 3 reasons

01/11/2013
Writing job descriptions for all of the positions in your company may sound like a lot of work, especially when they are not required by any law. But there are plenty of legal reasons why you should have them.

How to cope with dope: Marijuana & the Minnesota workplace

01/11/2013
Minnesota employers are stuck in the middle of the battle between state and federal law. The tension may create confusion for employers trying to legally enforce their policies, including drug-free workplace policies.

Disaster averted: Make emergency preparedness part of your job

01/09/2013
Hurricane Sandy … the derecho last June … employers must be prepared for a variety of disaster scenarios. Two very practical matters employers must deal with in the aftermath of a disaster: workplace cleanup and paying workers. Federal law affects both.

SOX doesn’t protect safety whistle-blowers

12/19/2012
A federal court in North Carolina has refused to add another legal avenue disgruntled employees can use to sue. The court said even after recent amendments that expanded the scope of the law, the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act doesn’t protect whistle-blowers who report what they believe are serious safety violations at work.

Can we terminate worker to keep domestic violence from spilling over into our workplace?

12/12/2012
Q. We have learned that one of our employees has been subjected to domestic violence and has a restraining order against her boyfriend. We are concerned that the man might become violent in our workplace. We are considering terminating the employee to make sure that our other employees are safe. Does such a termination raise any legal issues?

BWC awards $40,000 grant to Ashtabula company

12/12/2012
Ashtabula-based Iten Industries has received a Safety Intervention Grant from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to purchase lifting equipment designed to reduce workplace injuries.

Worker’s heat-related death leads to OSHA fine

12/03/2012
OSHA has slapped Symmetry Turf Install­­ations with two citations for serious safety violations after one of its employees died of heat stroke.

DOL stats: Workplace fatalities fell in 2011

11/01/2012
The number of workplace fatalities fell by 81 last year, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics. In 2011, 4,609 U.S. employees died on the job, compared to 4,690 in 2010.