Union leaders decry Indiana’s high rate of worker deaths
Critics are calling for improved workplace safety enforcement with the state’s rate of deaths while working about one-third higher than the national average.
Workplace Safety
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Pot users welcome: Amazon to stop testing jobseekers for cannabis
The company, the second-largest private employer in the United States behind Walmart, is making the change as states legalize cannabis or introduce laws banning employers from testing for it.
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Indianapolis-area employers reluctant to require employee vaccinations
Companies are offering plenty of incentives to encourage their workers to get COVID vaccinations, but few, if any, are requiring the shots as a condition for coming back to work—or, in the case of new hires, for getting a job offer.
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Policy forbidding cell phones at work not limited to FedEx
From safety concerns to productivity and data security, there are many reasons why companies may limit employee access to cell phones. Some FedEx employees said the company’s no-phone policy delayed contact with loved ones after the mass shooting on April 15.
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Police trying to identify gunman, motive in FedEx shooting
Indianapolis police Deputy Chief Craig McCartt said the gunman arrived at the facility shortly after 11 p.m. in a car and almost immediately began “randomly” shooting at people in the parking lot with a rifle.
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Articles
Safety expert: Make a plan, be ready to execute
Eric Dietz, director of Purdue University’s Homeland Security Institute, says businesses should have “active shooter” emergency drills just as they have fire drills.
Police ID two guns used by FedEx shooter
A police probable cause affidavit released Monday said Brandon Scott Hole had white supremacist websites on his computer when he was investigated during an arrest in March 2020.
Lives lost in FedEx shooting ranged from recent high school grads to 74-year-old vet
Here’s a look at the eight people who lost their lives Thursday in the tragic mass shooting at the FedEx facility in Indianapolis.
FedEx workers likely to suffer trauma, need support after mass shooting
Mental health counselors say it’s important for workers in such situations get immediate and ongoing care to help them get through the trauma.
FedEx CEO: ‘We know we lost eight team members in this senseless act of violence’
The chairman of FedEx said Friday that eight of the people who died in a mass shooting at one of the company’s facilities in Indianapolis late Thursday night were employees.
At least 11 other workplace shootings reported in Indiana since mid-2015
In addition to the nine deaths reported overnight at FedEx, at least four other Indiana deaths and four injuries have resulted from workplace shootings since mid-2015 in Indiana.
McDonald’s to mandate anti-harassment training worldwide
The change is part of a larger reckoning over sexual harassment at McDonald’s. At least 50 workers have filed charges against the company over the last five years, alleging physical and verbal harassment and, in some cases, retaliation when they complained.
Indiana Senate OKs optional pregnant worker accommodations
The proposal allows a pregnant employee to request accommodations and requires the employer to respond in a reasonable time frame, but it does not mandate that managers grant any of the requests.
Taller cubicles, staggered schedules: Returning office workers forced to adjust
Around the United States, office workers sent home when the pandemic took hold in March are returning to the world of adjustments, but offices in many cities still remain mostly vacant.
IBJ Podcast: This couple developed a robot that will kill coronavirus in your workplace
Diana and Jason Brugh talks with podcast host Mason King about how they were able develop a robot in just weeks, what it has been like working together, and what the robot costs. Plus, Diana explains her family’s experience with the coronavirus that helped motivate the project.
Downtown firms in no rush to get workers back to office
It could be months, or longer, before downtown bustles again with the office workers who help restaurants and other retailers thrive. And the wait might be a death knell for some of those retailers.
State disputes federal claims that IOSHA wrongly dropped fines related to Amazon worker’s death
Federal OSHA found that Amazon did not prove all of the criteria to establish employee misconduct occurred in this case, but the state agency disagrees.
Riots force big retailers, other businesses to close, make adjustments
Target, CVS, Apple and Walmart all said Sunday that they had temporarily closed or limited hours at some locations for safety reasons, while Amazon said it has adjusted some routes and suspended some deliveries.
Federal agency says state was wrong to drop Amazon fines in worker’s death
A federal investigation into how the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration reviewed an Amazon employee’s death in 2017 has found that the state agency should not have dismissed the safety violations.
Offices prep for new logistics when workers return
Most firms have just begun to wrestle with what they—and their workers—will face.
Restaurants will be anything but cozy when diners return
Restaurateurs say protective measures and uncertainty about the lingering pandemic might chill the influx in revenue the industry is hoping for once restaurants are allowed to resume dine-in service.
Infectious disease specialist, on reopening economy: ‘Do things very slowly and gradually’
Dr. Cole Beeler knows people are itching to get back to business and resume their normal lives. But he warns employers and workers not to rush back to the old way of doing business, at least not all at once.
Factories’ new reality: Temperature checks, sanitizing, face masks
From production routines and work schedules to health screenings and visitor policies, Hoosier manufacturers say COVID-19 has forced them to rethink how they operate.
Teacher gun training program clears Indiana Senate
The state Senate voted 42-7 Tuesday in favor of the bill that specifies a 40-hour training program for teachers volunteering to be armed, followed by 16 hours of additional training each year.