Safety First: How to Keep the Workplace and Your Employees Safe If you have any exposure to the daily news or, in some places, just look out your window, you can find more than ample proof that the world is a scary place. Life can be dangerous and difficult, and everyone is constantly looking for ways to minimize their risk. Recent Shooting Sparks Concern Sometimes our concern seems excessive. Everyone is familiar with the warning on any small electrical appliance, such as your toaster oven, that tells you not to use it in the shower or bathtub. It makes you want to write in and ask the manufacturer, who’s making toast in the bathtub? Sometimes, like with the recent tragedy involving WDJB employees in Virginia, circumstances leave us all shocked and scrambling for a way to ensure our safety. The shooting in Virginia was terrifying. Vester Flanagan, a former employee, gunned down two coworkers on live television and used his own camera to record and later post the incident online. One of the victims, Adam Ward, had complained about the gunman to HR. Flanagan apparently
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believed the other victim, Alison Parker, had interacted with him in an inappropriate way. Such heinous violence automatically spurs employers to review their hiring and screening processes, internal processes, including basic security measures like locking the doors, and other ways to keep employees safe. A workplace free from violence is particularly important considering the standards set by the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSH Act), which provides that employers must maintain “a place of employment which is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” That broad statement is referred to as the General Duty Clause. Although the OSH Act doesn’t contain detailed standards for maintaining a safe workplace, the federal agency that enforces the Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has issued safety guidelines and recommends that employers adopt a violence prevention program, which can be incorporated into the employee handbook.
SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
