Wrongful Death News

Guidelines For Workplace Violence Prevention Programs For Night Retail Establishments

These are draft voluntary guidelines designed to prevent violence at late night retail establishments. As we understand your concerns, they are that: 1) OSHA has failed to comply with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act ("SBREFA") by not conducting appropriate economic impact analyses; 2) OSHA has not subjected these guidelines to the notice-and-comment process for promulgating rules envisioned by either the Occupational Safety and Health Act ("OSH Act" or "the Act") or the Administrative Procedures Act; 3) The Guidelines are fatally flawed as a "one size fits all" solution for the problem of workplace violence; 4) the Guidelines will be enforced through Section 5(a)(1) ("The General Duty Causes") as though they were standards promulgated after notice-and-comment rulemaking; and 5) the Guidelines will be used to establish new standards of care in personal injury or wrongful death tort suits. You have also requested that OSHA hold stakeholder meetings with representatives of all interests most likely to be affected by the proposed guidelines and extend the comment period on the guidelines until at least 30 days after the stakeholder meetings are concluded.

At the outset, let me respectfully assure you that such concerns are unfounded. As a response to the serious problem of homicides in the workplace, which is the second leading cause of all job-related deaths and the leading cause of fatalities among women, OSHA developed these draft workplace violence guidelines. OSHA has complied risk factors for workplace violence identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and three states, and has set forth some useful techniques for reducing those risks. These guidelines are our recommendations to employers and workers who may be at risk; they are advisory in nature, and set forth general principles and technical information which interested employers may find useful in reducing workplace violence. The Guidelines cannot and will not be enforced as though they were standards promulgated after notice-and-comment rulemaking.

If you have suffered financial or emotional distress due to the negligence of others in Massachusetts, contact our wrongful death lawyer now and obtain a free case evaluation.

	Did You Know?
	There is a statute of limitation on wrongful death suits. Every state has its own ‘statute of limitation’, which is the maximum allowable time in which to file. After this time a claim may be denied. It is important that you speak with a lawyer as soon as possible to insure your rights.