It’s important for employers to plan to prevent workplace violence and respond to it if prevention fails. While every employer needs a customized plan that fits its particular workplace, good violence-prevention strategies share common elements.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has released a survey indicating that two buildings at the NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland did not cause cancer among employees. The union representing some NASA employees says it isn’t satisfied.

December is the time for holiday parties. If you throw an employee bash that involves alcohol, make sure no one is on the clock or has to work on behalf of the organization. Better yet, don’t provide alcohol.

Glatfelter Insurance Group employees spend their breaks soaking in the company sauna and enjoying quickie neck-and-shoulder massages. As part of its wellness program, the York, Pa., organization gives employees free access to a personal trainer and on-site tennis, volleyball and basketball courts.

If you hire a security company to help keep your workplace safe for customers and employees, make sure your supervisors don’t wind up providing specific direction to the guards the company assigns to your company. If you and your staff resist the temptation to control their every move and give them just general instructions, the security company and its guards remain independent contractors. That’s important for liability reasons.

In most circumstances, employers aren’t going to be held directly responsible if an employee suffers a physical injury because of something a fellow employee did. Instead, such cases are handled through the workers’ compensation system.

Could a stressed-out employee who makes veiled threats be a danger to himself or others? It’s the kind of quandary that keeps HR pros awake at night. And because the stakes are potentially high, it’s hard to know what to do. The most prudent course of action: Suspend the employee until you can sort matters out.

If you’ve ever visited YouTube.com, you may have clicked on videos showing an assortment of office meltdowns. Laptops get smashed, desks are overturned and staplers are thrown. While some of these are funny to watch, each one probably made you think, “Man, I hope nothing like that ever happens at our office.” Sad to say, it could ...

Here’s a tale of workplace terror so harrowing that one of the characters even used a pseudonym when he filed for workers’ comp … for injuries he had yet to receive.

In a bid to improve employees’ fitness and reduce health costs, some U.S. employers are going far beyond subsidizing health-club fees or hosting lunchtime walking clubs. They’re taking their wellness initiatives to the edge. Three examples ...

In June, Gov. Ed Rendell signed into law the Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA), which regulates smoking in places across the commonwealth (except the city of Philadelphia because it already has a similar smoking ban in place). The CIAA prohibits smoking in indoor areas such as enclosed public places, restaurants, nightclubs and workplaces ...

Q. What are some proactive strategies employers can implement to promote a safe workplace? ...

When a masked man pulled a gun on employees as they opened an Aaron Rents store in Atlanta and demanded cash, the workers complied, handing over roughly $5,000. But when the robber, Shawn Henderson, asked for more, the employees decided to fight back ...

Sometimes, it seems as if employees and their attorneys will try anything to squeeze money from employers. But now some courts are telling employees, “Enough is enough.”

Every year, the Ghost of Christmas Parties Past comes clanking down the hallway, dragging a chain of liability dread for employers. The biggest nightmare: alcohol-fueled misbehavior and mishaps. Here are 12 tips to ensure that what's supposed to be the best of times doesn't turn into the worst of times.