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Violence is a leading cause of workplace deaths in the last 15 years and causes 48 percent of worker deaths in the retail industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Protecting retail stores is particularly challenging because they are open, public, high-traffic spaces with cash on hand, sometimes late-night operations, and with high employer turnover and stress. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2013, 85 percent of retail industry workplace violence involved some sort of crime. The rest may occur because a customer targeted a store or employee, an employee attacked coworkers or the company, or domestic or gang violence followed an employee to work. Moreover, violence may not always mean physical violence. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration defines violence to include intimidating and threatening conduct, and California recently passing a law that targets “abusive” behavior.
Continue Reading Retailer’s Guide to Defending Against Workplace Violence

On February 20, 2015, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted on new changes to the Heat Illness Prevention regulation. The Standards Board voted 5-1 to approve the proposed amended statute. Marley Heart, Executive Director of the Standards Board, requested the Office of Administrative Review to allow for an early effective date. The…

Everywhere you turn, Ebola is in the news.  Employers with concerns about the potential workplace implications of Ebola should listen to our complimentary podcast discussing legal and practical issues relating to the virus, including:

  • Steps  to take to ensure OSHA and state workplace health and safety laws are satisfied;
  • Legal compliance challenges that may arise

…

Cal/OSHA recently issued interim safety guidelines for preventing exposure to the Ebola virus. California’s guidelines are aimed at identifying safety practices for the types of workers Federal officials have identified to be at potential risk of exposure in this country, including health care workers, emergency responders, laboratory staff, mortuary workers, airline flight crews, airport staff, border protection workers, and quarantine operations staff.

Since California’s workplace safety and health standards are more stringent than the federal standards for infectious diseases such as Ebola, California’s guidelines are drawn from the state standards. The new guidance recommends employers do the following:
Continue Reading Cal/OSHA Issues Guidance on Ebola Virus

Employers in the construction industry throughout California must prepare for an increase in the number of California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“Cal/OSHA”) inspectors who will check employers’ fall protection safety systems.  The increase in inspections is a response to the events that occurred between May 18 and May 21, 2014, when four construction workers…

Labor Code 226.7 provides that an employee should receive one hour of pay as a penalty for not receiving rest or meal periods in accordance with California law. Yesterday, Governor Brown signed into law SB 435 which expands the one hour of pay penalty to missed “recovery periods.”  The new law applies to any meal,…