Safety/Health

Employ teens? Child-Labor fines, enforcement on the rise

08/21/2008

Buried in the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) that President Bush signed this year was a little-noticed provision that substantially increased the potential fines against employers that violate federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) child-labor laws. If employees under age 18 are killed or seriously hurt due to an FLSA child-labor violation, employers can now face a $50,000 fine for each violation

Imperial Sugar fined $8.7 million in wake of deadly explosion

08/19/2008

Federal officials proposed more than $8.7 million in fines against Imperial Sugar Co., the third-highest fine total in the history of OSHA. The agency fined Imperial Sugar $5 million for violations at its plant near Savannah, where 13 workers were killed in an explosion this spring, and another $3.7 million for violations at its Gramercy, La., plant …

Transportation Companies Face New Drug-Testing Requirements, Starting on Aug. 25

08/12/2008

Starting Aug. 25, organizations that must comply with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) drug-testing regulations face some new requirements. Specifically, drug testers must directly observe any follow-up urine tests. The goal: prevent employees from cheating the drug test.

Workers’ comp may cover injury that occurs on vacation

08/11/2008

If you require certain employees to stay in good physical shape and pass regular fitness tests, a recent court ruling raises this key question: Could your organization be on the hook for workers’ compensation bneefits if the employee gets hurt while working out during a vacation?

Judge upholds gun law as companies duck and cover

08/11/2008

Florida employees may keep guns locked in their cars at work, but customers do not have the same right, Tallahassee U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled in July. Hinkle upheld most of Florida’s new “guns at work” law, which went into effect July 1, but said it is so poorly written that it’s “stupid.”

Plutonium taints workers; NIST vows better procedures

08/05/2008

Employees at the Boulder campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) were contaminated when a vial containing about a quarter gram of plutonium-laced powder cracked on June 9, spilling a few particles …

Judge Upholds ‘Guns-at-Work’ Law; Companies Duck and Cover

08/05/2008

A Florida judge has upheld that state’s new "guns-at-work" law that allows employees to keep firearms locked in their cars on company parking lots. But many employers are aggressively looking for ways to keep the weapons off their premises, using special exemptions built into the law. With two other states recently enacting legislation similar to Florida’s (and more poised to consider the issue next year), this is an issue HR needs to monitor.

Rep. Green asks for investigation into fatal Goodyear explosion

08/04/2008

U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, in a letter to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), called for an investigation into the fatal explosion that occurred June 11 at a Houston Goodyear facility that makes synthetic rubber for tires …

Can we ban guns in the workplace?

08/04/2008

Q. May an employer prohibit employees who are licensed by the state of Texas to carry a concealed firearm from bringing firearms onto the employer’s property? …

Successful weight watchers attend program at no cost

08/01/2008

Weight watchers at Sheboygan, Wis.-based Acuity can lose weight free if they meet their program goals. Employees who sign up for the Weight Watchers program pay $100 for 17 weekly meetings, and the insurance company reimburses them if they meet their program-established weight-loss goals.