Broad Social Media Policy Statements Create Risk A recent news article "Even if It Enrages Your Boss, Social Net Speech Is Protected" by Steven Greenhouse caught our attention, and highlights issues that every employer, regardless of size, must consider when crafting and updating company Social Media Policy Documents. We have moved past the issue of whether workers who commiserate about ‘work’ on social media sites are entitled to the same protections as those who gather around the proverbial water cooler; that answer is ‘yes’. Employers continue to struggle with how to discourage social media postings that portray the employer in a negative light in a manner that is compliant with recent rulings.  These recent labor board and court rulings provide more guidance to employers on how to word their social media policies in order to be compliant with federal law. So, what type of e...

Lone Worker Safety   Workplace Violence Prevention  By Suzy Loughlin, Esq., CAO and Co-founder Firestorm Summary Article: Alberta to investigate death of Camrose caregiver Related: St. Helens, Oregon Mental health worker stabbed to death Lone workers have no choice but to be trained to both assess risk on their own, as well as be their own first responder. This type of training should be given to every employee—even for those who work with others, as you never know when circumstances will change, placing you in a lone position with another—whether a patient, customer, client, or co-worker. The facts leading up to this incident are not yet clear, and over time, I’m sure we will learn more. My comments are not specific to this event, but rather will be directed toward any scenario where one works alone with a patient/customer/client. Firestorm’s PREDICT. PLAN. PERFORM.® ...

Emergency Response   Is Stop Drop and Be Handsome the New Emergency Training Protocol?  By Suzy Loughlin, Esq., CAO and Co-founder Firestorm We kid Brian Williams but we don't kid about safety. On Tuesday night, NBC Nightly News anchor (and former volunteer fire fighter) Brian Williams was in the middle of a story about the bankruptcy filing of American Airlines, when a fire alarm sounded in the studio. Initially, Williams kept reading his lines. He later said "You'll forgive us, we have a fire alarm announcement going on here in the studio," before returning to his script. The alarm continued to sound throughout the broadcast. At some point, Williams said to the audience “there is no danger to us." Tweets and blogs were humming with opinions about Williams conduct, ranging from a viewer post that read: “Mr. Williams put every studio employee's life at risk by forcing t...