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Safety/Health

What you need to know about Florida’s new Guns at Work Law

07/14/2008
Last April, the Florida Legislature passed the Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008. Many call it by a much less official name: the Guns at Work Law. The law expands employees’ rights to transport lawfully registered firearms in their vehicles even if they are traveling to work …

Metropolis kicks butts

07/09/2008
The city of Metropolis—Illinois’ adopted home of Superman—has offered to pay its employees $1,000 each if they can give up smoking for one year …

Companies try doctors’ bonuses to reduce employee depression

07/08/2008
A group of Minnesota employers is piloting a pay-for-performance program to combat employee depression. The program is sponsored by the Buyers Health Care Action Group (BHCAG) …

Remind supervisors: You have duty to prevent customer harm

07/07/2008
Employers aren’t just liable for harm that comes to employees while they work. Employers also have to keep customers safe. That duty even includes making sure off-duty employees don’t harm customers if that harm is foreseeable …

Spanish ship workers can sue Owens-Illinois for asbestos

07/07/2008
Fifteen Spanish workers are suing Owens-Illinois, Inc., based in Perrysburg, over asbestos exposure. A New Jersey appellate panel reversed a lower court ruling that dismissed the workers’ suit due to lack of jurisdiction …

Energy firm workers stay fit with scuba

07/03/2008
Oklahoma City is a long way away from the ocean, but Chesapeake Energy Corp. encourages employees to stay healthy by taking scuba diving lessons. The push is part of the company’s “Living Well” program, which pays employees up to $1,000 a year for improving their health through exercise and education …

Tailor incentives to encourage most important health behaviors

07/03/2008
Half of large employers use incentives to encourage employees to quit smoking, lose weight or otherwise improve their health, and that number will leap to 74% next year, predicts HR consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide …

Sure, they’re fair and balanced, but have they been fumigated?

07/02/2008
Jane Clark is suing the landlord of the Fox News Channel building, claiming three encounters with bedbugs left her unable to work. Clark, a satellite feed coordinator for Fox News, says she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after her brush with the bugs …

OSHA citations follow NYC window-Washing scaffold collapse

07/02/2008
OSHA has cited two companies for workplace safety violations that led to the deaths of two window washers in Manhattan last December. The workers fell 47 stories when their scaffolding platform detached from the window-washing rig attached to the building’s roof …

Job site fatality brings manslaughter charges

07/02/2008
A Brooklyn contractor has been charged with manslaughter following the death of a worker who was killed while digging a foundation in March. William Lattarulo is accused of ignoring obvious safety hazards and forcing his employees to endanger themselves …