If an employer disciplines or terminates an employee on the advice of a supervisor, without knowing the supervisor is actually retaliating against the employee, the employer can still be liable, ruled the Oregon Supreme Court. Sometimes, the people with authority to make employment decisions don’t really make decisions alone, but instead rely…
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The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have created a “Heat Safety Tool” app for Android and iPhone to help workers and supervisors calculate the heat index for their worksites and determine risk levels for outdoor workers. The app also includes…
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A federal appeals court recently affirmed three citations for serious safety violations following the partial amputation of an employee’s thumb at a poultry processing plant. The company had challenged the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s citations in federal court, arguing that the injured employee engaged in unpreventable employee misconduct by violating…
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Question: How many exit routes should we have? Also, is it okay to temporarily block an exit route? Answer: Generally, you’ll need to have at least two solid exit routes for your employees and your operation, but more exit routes may be required depending on the number of people onsite and/or the size of…
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A federal district court recently ruled that a police department complied with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it required a bomb squad technician to undergo a fitness-for-duty exam. Their justification? The city had an objective basis for the fitness-for-duty exam request. In this case, the technician was experiencing hand…
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As wildfire season approaches, it’s important to understand your obligations if employees want to wear dust masks to try to protect themselves from smoke in the air. Wildfire smoke is a mixture of gases and fine particles from burning trees and other plant material. Smoke can irritate workers’ eyes and respiratory systems,…
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Employers who reported high injury and illness rates in 2016, or who failed to report at all, will be targeted for inspections by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Site-Specific Targeting The agency announced the directive, “Site-Specific Targeting 2016,” on October 16, 2018. States with their own safety programs, such as…
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A forklift maintenance procedure at a Kansas drywall contractor turned tragic when a hydraulic cylinder in the process of being swapped out fatally crushed an employee. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued a press release announcing that it had cited the company for seven serious safety…
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Question: I have a production employee who says that standing for eight hours a day is causing him pain. He doesn’t want to go on any type of leave and says he’d rather just suffer through it. We are covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). What do I do?
Question: To avoid workplace injuries, we require all employees to be 100-percent healed without any medical restrictions before they return to work after an illness or injury. We think this is an important policy to protect employee safety, but recently heard it might be unlawful discrimination. Is it?
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