With more wildfires raging across the West, it’s not only homes that are being burned to the ground. Hundreds of business owners have seen their facilities succumb to the flames. If you have a business in an area at risk of wildfires, just like homeowners, you need to take steps to reduce your exposure and…
Governor Newsom has signed legislation that creates a new framework for COVID-19-related workers’ compensation claims. SB 1159, which takes effect immediately, partly replaces an executive order that Newsom made on March 18 and which expired on July 5. That order required all employees working outside the home who contracted COVID-19 be eligible for workers’ compensation…
A new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that driver assistance technologies, such as automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems, have been shown to reduce accident rates among large trucks. Increased use of these systems in these vehicles should prevent countless deaths and injuries and save millions of dollars. The U.S.…
Cal/OSHA has been conducting sweeps of employers in California to root out those who are not protecting their workers from COVID-19 exposure. The agency targeted companies in industries that have a heightened risk of exposure to the coronavirus, which resulted in 11 citations being issued. While Cal/OSHA has been inspecting facilities since April for COVID-19-related…
As wildfires continue raging throughout California, Cal/OSHA has issued a reminder to employers that they are required to protect their outdoor workers from smoke if the air quality index exceeds 151. Cal/OSHA has extended an emergency regulation it put in place in August 2019 through January 2021 as it works on a permanent regulation on…
A new law has come to the rescue of a number of freelance professions by exempting them from the onerous requirements of AB 5, which required most independent contractors to be classified as employees in California. Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 1 signed AB 2257 as an urgency measure, so that it took effect immediately…
While hacking by outsiders is posing a larger and more significant threat to companies of all sizes, the threat of insider jobs – particularly by disgruntled former employees – is often a bigger one. These attacks, carried out with malicious intent to hamstring a company’s operations, can cause serious problems. Take, for example, the following…
The number of COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims in California has seen a steady climb, reaching a total of 31,612 from when the pandemic started until the end of July, according to the latest figures from the Division of Workers’ Compensation. In July, 9,515 California workers filed COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims, as well as 74 coronavirus-related…
Most companies are serious about workplace safety and that goes even for office workers, whom they provide with proper chairs and ergonomically appropriate workstations. But with so many people suddenly having been thrust into working from home, workers have converted guest bedrooms, kitchen tables and living rooms into workspaces ― and ergonomics has mostly gone…
As many states and municipalities have issued mandatory mask orders for businesses that are open to the public, operators like retailers and restaurants have been thrust into the front lines of reducing the spread of the virus by requiring customers to wear masks when on their premises. This has led to confrontations that sometimes result…