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  • Porter Roofing Contractors Inc., a Tennessee-based roofing contractor, face a hefty penalty after the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited them. This citation came following the death of an employee who had fallen through a skylight at a Florida airport hangar. OSHA cited the company for four serious violations and proposed $53,797 in penalties.

    OSHA stated that Porter Roofing failed to inspect job sites, materials, and equipment regularly. In addition, they exposed their workers to electrical, struck-by, and fall hazards while failing to report work-related employee hospitalization within 24 hours.

    About Porter Roofing Contractors Inc.

    Porter Roofing is your single-source contractor for consultation, execution, and installation of various high-performance roof systems. They have blueprinted an innovative culture throughout their company, emphasizing the welfare and safety of everyone involved with any roofing project they undertake.

    The Assistance Of A PEO

    Unfortunately, the failure of Porter Roofing to prioritize the safety of its workers resulted in the tragic loss of an employee’s life. This serves as a reminder to take proactive measures to safeguard your workers and prevent unnecessary loss of innocent lives. Have you considered partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO)? A PEO such as Group Management Services (GMS) helps businesses with OSHA compliance to reduce the risk of an OSHA inspection and to prepare for one if it does occur.

    At GMS, our risk management team can perform a comprehensive assessment of your company’s safety practices identifying areas of non-compliance with OSHA regulations. The assessment can include the following:

    • Review safety policies and procedures 
    • Conduct safety policies and procedures 
    • Identify training needs

    We provide you with safety training for your employees so you can avoid accidents and injuries and reduce the risk of OSHA violations. In addition, if you don’t already have safety programs and policies in place, our experts help you develop and implement safety programs and policies that comply with OSHA regulations. We do it all. Contact us today to ensure your workers are working in a safe environment.

  • California State Senator Dave Cortese introduced Senate Bill 553 on February 15th, 2023, which discusses workplace violence. Workplace violence prevention regulations are only applicable to the health care industry. However, preventing workplace violence in every industry is also necessary. Workplace violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior at work. It can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. It’s reported that 743 million, or 23% of employees worldwide, have experienced violence or harassment in their workplace.

    Understanding Senate Bill 553

    Senate Bill 553 would require California’s occupational safety and health regulator to broaden the scope of workplace violence prevention regulations and would cover most employers in California. If it passes, it will require the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) to adopt regulations requiring any employer not subject to the health care regulations to create a workplace violence prevention plan that’s part of the employer’s injury and illness prevention plan. Business owners would be required to do the following:

    • Violent incident log
    • Recordkeeping
    • Reporting of violent incidents to Cal/OSHA
    • A written violence prevention plan
    • Training

    GMS’ Safety Manager Nick Clark stated, “One of the most important aspects of maintaining a safe workplace is preventing workplace violence. There are several steps employers can take to prevent violent incidents in the workplace. First, creating a workplace prevention program that includes guidelines for reporting and addressing threatening or violent behavior is crucial. Furthermore, training employees to recognize warning signs of violence, de-escalation techniques, and how to respond to violent incidents can help prevent such incidents from occurring. Employers may also consider implementing security measures such as surveillance cameras, access control systems, and security personnel to prevent violence. Ultimately, taking proactive measures to prevent workplace violence can ensure employees’ safety and well-being and avoid legal issues.”

    Don’t Wait To Prevent Workplace Violence

    While there is no set time frame for when this bill would go into effect, it’s essential that you’re always trying to keep your employees safe and prevent workplace violence from occurring. Partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO) such as GMS can help employers by providing various services and resources to identify and manage potential threats. GMS’ HR experts work with you to create clear policies and procedures around prevention, including training, reporting, and response protocols. In addition, you gain access to our learning management system (LMS), where employees can be trained to identify potential warning signs of violence, report concerns, and respond to an active threat. Ultimately, we provide ongoing support to help you stay updated with the latest best practices and strategies for preventing workplace violence. Contact us today to prevent workplace violence from happening in your business.

  • We’ve discussed how to have a successful onboarding process for remote workers, what you should ask yourself before considering remote work for your employees, and how to manage your remote team more effectively. Now, it’s time to take a deep dive into how you can ensure a secure cyber environment for this class of workers.

    A report showed that 20% of organizations experienced a security breach in their system because of a remote worker. A security breach is any incident that results in unauthorized access to computer data, applications, networks, or devices. In addition, it was revealed that the average data breach cost increased by over $1 million whenever remote work was a factor. The importance of having the proper software to protect your employees from a breach is critical. Cyber attackers are becoming smarter and smarter, and as an employer, you must stay up to speed with technological advancements, especially among your virtual workers.

    Secure Your Employees’ Remote Work Environment

    You must take additional precautions to ensure a secure work environment when you have remote employees. With nearly one-half to two-thirds of U.S. employees working at least part of their time remotely, what will you do as an employer to help these employees protect at-home networks? Consider the following tips:

    • Install security software: This is a perfect starting point if this hasn’t been implemented from the beginning. This software prevents malware, viruses, phishing attempts, and other potential threats.
    • Connect to a virtual private network (VPN): A VPN allows remote employees to become an extension of the network as if they’re in the office with the same security and connectivity benefits.
    • Use a router that’s up to date: The longer a router ages, the more likely it is to be compromised by cyber hackers who are ready to steal and monetize your data.
    • Enable encryption: Data encryption is a computing process that encodes plaintext/cleartext into ciphertext accessible only by authorized users with the right cryptographic key. It adds a layer of protection for businesses and remote workers.
    • Adhere to a strong password policy: Long and complex passwords offer a valuable method of protecting computing resources. If you have easily guessed passwords, they’re more likely to get attacked. Strong passwords protect your accounts and devices from unauthorized access, keeping your employees’ sensitive personal information as safe as possible. A strong password is hard to guess, but it should be easy to remember. Consider utilizing the following characteristics of a strong password:
      • At least 12 characters 
      • A mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters 
      • Use letters and numbers
      • Include at least one unique character 
    • Train your employees: To minimize the risk of a cyber-attack, your first line of defense is implementing employee training. Utilizing a learning management system (LMS) to implement training courses periodically or have company-wide training is a critical step in creating a secure cyber environment. 
    • Use multi-factor authentication (MFA): MFA is an authentication method that requires the user to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to a resource such as an application, online account, or a VPN. It ultimately enhances your organization’s security by requiring users to identify themselves with more than a username or password.

    Brett Kowalski, GMS’ IT Director, expresses, “Enhancing your company’s cyber security is extremely important in today’s business environment. With many employees working remotely, it’s essential that companies ensure that remote workers have secure methods to access their company’s data. Using multi-factor authentication and other security login protocols is crucial. When employees connect from all over the world, having a secure login process can help prevent the potential of a cyber-attack.”

    GMS Can Protect Your Business

    As remote work continues to dominate the workforce, new cyber risks have emerged. As a business owner, it’s time to think outside the box and consider utilizing a professional employer organization (PEO) such as GMS. When you partner with GMS, we can help develop and implement policies and procedures that address remote work and cyber security. This can include guidelines for using personal devices, correctly accessing company data, and reporting security incidents. In addition, we can provide cyber security training to employees to help them identify and prevent cyber threats such as phishing, scams, malware, and social engineering attacks using our LMS. Interested in learning more about how GMS can protect your business and employees? Get a quote now.

  • Earlier this month, the California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (OSHAB) announced that outdoor job sites must contain accessible potable drinking water. Water must be placed within close proximity to where employees work. It was determined that outdoor workplace drinking water must be located “as close as practical” to areas where employees are working, which encourages frequent hydration.

    On February 6th, 2023, OSHAB clarified that the term “as close as practicable” in terms of providing water to prevent heat illness means that the water must be as close as reasonably can be accomplished to encourage frequent water consumption. Millions of U.S. workers are exposed to heat in their workplaces or job sites. Although exposure to heat is preventable, thousands become sick from occupational heat exposure every year, and in some cases, it’s fatal. Most outdoor fatalities, 50% to 70%, occur in the first few days of working in warm or hot environments because the body needs to gradually tolerate the heat over time. The Occupational Medicine and Wellness center states that workers should drink five to seven ounces of water every 15 to 20 minutes to prevent dehydration.

    Help Your Employees!

    If you have employees that are working endless hours outside, especially in the heat, it’s essential that you take steps to prevent them from getting injured on the job. Providing your workers with easy access to water while on the job site is one of the easiest steps you can take to protect your workers. Our safety experts ensure you remain compliant and take every step possible to protect your biggest asset – your employees. Interested in learning more? Contact us today.

  • As a business owner, it’s essential that you create a safe work environment for your employees. A safe and healthy workplace protects your workers from injury and illness while also doing the following: 

    • Lowers injury/illness costs
    • Reduces absenteeism and turnover
    • Increases productivity and quality 
    • Raises employee morale

    The number of preventable work deaths increased by nine percent in 2021, totaling 4,472. In addition, there were over two million non-fatal workplace incidents in 2020. As we near the end of the first quarter of 2023, consider your efforts to prevent workplace injuries and areas that need improvement.

    An Example For Reference

    What better way to spread awareness for workplace safety than sharing a story of a company that was unfortunately faced with hefty penalties? Three workers at Wright Tool Company, a leading tool manufacturer in Barberton, Ohio, suffered injuries from unguarded machinery. These incidents triggered an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection, which led to $164,742 in proposed fines. Wright Tool Company has forged to finish the highest quality hand tools by hardworking Americans for even harder working professionals.

    The latest injury occurred on October 26th, 2022, when an employee suffered a thumb amputation when hand-feeding parts into a drill press using air-activated clamps. The other injuries occurred in December 2020 and June 2022 when both workers performed similar job duties and suffered laceration injuries. The company was cited for one willful violation of machine guarding standards, two serious, and one other-than-serious violation. On top of that, Wright Tool Company also failed to do the following:

    • Conduct hazard assessments to identify personal protective equipment needs and other requirements
    • Did not test energy control procedures at least annually
    • Did not train every employee to ensure they understood hazardous energy control procedures 
    • Enclose shafting

    What Now?

    Unfortunately, Wright Tool Company will have to pay $164,742 to OSHA for failing safety protocols. If they had taken proactive steps and improved their safety measures, these accidents could have been prevented. Partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO) like GMS will ensure that an accident similar to this won’t happen within your business. Many small business owners struggle to stay ahead of the risks associated with workers’ compensation and workplace hazards. Employers don’t need to settle for high compensation costs and issues from OSHA. When you partner with us, we simplify your administrative needs and create a culture of workplace safety, all while helping you save money. You ultimately gain a partner that enables you to take a proactive approach to address immediate issues and prevent potential problems in the future.

    Scott Lenigan, GMS’ Safety Coordinator III, expressed, “You gain a partner with a safety staff with a wealth of experience in all industries. Our services include safety program audits, workplace training, job site visits, accident and injury investigations, and help with required recordkeeping. In addition, our team has vast experience in the OSHA investigation process, being your advocate from the initial investigation to an informal conference to appeal any citations. Our team provides you with the tools to take a proactive approach to address immediate issues and prevent potential problems in the future.”

    Let’s not make the same mistakes this company made. Contact us today!

  • As a small business owner, you wear many hats, from managing payroll to ensuring the safety of your employees; you do it all. As technology advances, phishing attacks have become more prominent, especially for small business owners. Phishing is a type of social engineering attack often used to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. It typically occurs when an attack dupes a victim into opening an email, instant message, or text message. The recipient is then tricked into clicking a malicious link which can lead the attacker to install malware. Malware freezes the system as part of a ransomware attack revealing sensitive information. A report showed that in the middle of 2022, the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) observed 1,270,883 total phishing attacks.

    Understanding The Effects Of Phishing On Your Business

    Small businesses are a popular target for phishing attacks because they often have smaller cybersecurity budgets and weaker security measures in place. A phishing attack has overwhelming results. Should it happen to an individual, it can include unauthorized purchases, stealing of funds, or identity theft. If a business is attacked, you could sustain severe financial losses, reputation, consumer trust, legal action, and regulatory penalties. As a small business owner, you don’t have the time or expertise to handle a situation at this level.

    There are many tactics that these cybercriminals utilize when attacking a small business. Most commonly seen is an email sent out which appears to be from a legitimate source, such as a financial institution or vendor you frequently do business with. Within the email, there’s a link that redirects an employee to a fake website where they’re asked to enter personal or financial information. These phishing emails are used to install malware on your business’s network or carry out a ransomware attack. Once the malware is installed on your network, it can access your business data and systems. I think you can guess what happens next.

    How To Prevent Phishing Attacks

    While these cyber attackers are very smart and good at what they do, phishing attacks are avoidable if you know how to identify and prevent them correctly. Understand the following tips for identifying and preventing phishing scams:

    • Know what a phishing scam looks like
    • Don’t click on links unless you are 100% sure what they are – The safest way is to enter the website in your own browser
    • Get free anti-phishing add-ons
    • Don’t give your information to an unsecured site
    • Rotate passwords regularly
    • Don’t ignore updates
    • Install firewalls
    • Don’t be tempted by pop-ups 
    • Don’t give out vital information via email
    • Have a data security platform to spot signs of an attack

    The Benefits Of Partnering With GMS

    While you can take the above steps to prevent phishing attacks within your business, partnering with Group Management Services (GMS) will provide you with additional resources. The first and most crucial step when preventing these attacks is education. When you partner with GMS, you gain access to our learning management system (LMS). Within this system, you and your employees can take continued education courses on what phishing looks like and additional measures you should be taking.

    Brett Kowalski, GMS’ IT Director, stated, “Having a strong cybersecurity program in place should be a top priority for business owners in today’s climate. Educating your workforce is the key to protecting your company’s data as well as preventing potential attacks. The hackers are getting increasingly sophisticated in their attempts to obtain information, which is why business owners must invest in a credible program or service offering to stay on top of the current trends within cybersecurity.”

    Interested in learning more? Contact us today.

  • Lawmakers in New York proposed Senate Bill 1488. This bill would prohibit businesses from retaliating if employees file workers’ compensation claims following work-related injuries. Within this bill, retaliation is defined as “threatening to contact or contacting U.S. immigration authorities over a worker’s suspected citizenship or immigration status as well as that of household members of workers.” If it’s passed into law, any employer found to be violating the law will face fines between $500 and $2,000. The bill currently sits with the Senate Labor Committee.

    Stay Up To Date By Partnering With GMS

    As a business owner, it’s essential that you take every precaution to ensure you remain compliant with state and federal laws. Luckily, if you have a business in the state of New York, GMS has your back. We ensure you are up to date with all laws and regulations. Don’t worry about missing one minor detail that could cost your small business a hefty fine you don’t have the time or money to deal with. Contact GMS to learn more.

  • The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently released a set of best practices to better protect temporary workers on the job. The mission of NIOSH is to develop new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health and to transfer that knowledge into practice. Before we dive into the latest best practices, let’s define what a temporary worker is. Temporary workers are paid by a staffing company and assigned to a host employer, which can be short and long-term work. Host employers are responsible for protecting the safety and health of all workers, whether they’re temporary or permanent.

    As an employer or, in this case, a host employer, you must find every way possible to ensure the safety of your employees. Luckily, NIOSH came up with a list of best practices. They broke the best practices into four sections which include:

    • Evaluation
    • Contracting
    • Training
    • Injury

    Evaluation

    Host employers (HEs) and staffing companies (SCs) must evaluate all aspects of safety and health related to each organization and the jobs temporary workers are being hired to execute. To accomplish this, host employers should take the following steps:

    • Conduct a joint risk assessment
    • Provide information
    • Allow site visits
    • Ensure commitment to safety and health

    Contracting

    The joint structure requires effective communication and a common understanding of the division of responsibilities for safety and health at all required levels within each organization. The responsibilities must be reviewed often and set forth in a written contract between HEs and SCs. The following information needs to be specified clearly in the written contract:

    • Job details
    • Communication/documentation responsibilities
    • Injury and illness reporting, response, and record-keeping responsibilities
    • Other aspects of workplace safety and health

    Training

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) states that in most cases, the HE is responsible for providing site – and task–specific safety and health training, and the SC is responsible for providing general safety and health awareness training. Safety and health training must be provided for all temporary workers before starting new projects or new jobs/tasks on existing assignments. In addition, these trainings must be in a language your temporary workers understand while also including the following information:

    • Approved tasks
    • Hazard identification and control 
    • Personal protective equipment
    • OSHA laws
    • First aid
    • Emergency procedures
    • Reporting safety and health incidents and concerns
    • Secure site
    • Safety and health program participation

    Injury And Illness Reporting, Response, And Recordkeeping

    Finally, to prevent future incidents from occurring, effective injury and illness reporting, response, and recordkeeping are vital. It’s essential that HEs implement the following:

    • Promote injury and illness reporting
    • Inform the staffing company 
    • Report to OSHA
    • Conduct joint incident investigations 
    • Coordinate medical treatment and return to work
    • Record on OSHA 300 Log
    • Complete staffing company documentation 
    • Fulfill records request

    Partner With GMS To Keep Your Employees Safe

    The outlined best practices announced by the NIOSH are just the beginning. You have the information in front of you, but how will you begin to implement them within your business? That’s where GMS comes into play. At GMS, we understand that business owners cannot keep operations running and thriving without a healthy and efficient workforce. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure your employees are given the tools to succeed while also ensuring you have created a culture of safety to minimize any risk their daily activities may carry. We help you take a proactive approach to workplace safety through various services, including:

    • Onsite consulting 
    • Jobsite inspections
    • Accident and injury investigations
    • Training
    • OSHA inspection and citation assistance 

    Contact our safety experts today to learn more. 

  • On December 12th, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation establishing Carlos’ Law. Under this bill, corporate criminal liability for death or serious physical injury of an employee, whether a felony or misdemeanor, will be increased by a fine of up to $500,000.

    Carlos’ Law

    Carlos’ Law is named after Carlos Moncayo, a 22-year-old construction worker who tragically died at a New York City construction site in 2015. He was killed in the workplace because his employer ignored the repeated warnings of the dangerous conditions he was placed in.

    This law raises the financial penalties employers may face for workplace fatalities from a minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $10,000 to a minimum of $300,000 and a maximum of $500,000. Under the new legislation, a corporation is guilty of criminal corporate liability for the death or injury of a worker when it negligently, recklessly, intentionally, or knowingly causes the death or serious physical injury of its employees while on the job.

    The law will do the following:

    • Impose criminal liability on a corporation when the conduct constituting the offense is committed by an agent of the corporation while acting within the scope of their employment and on behalf of the corporation, and the offense is “in relation to a crime involving the death or injury of a worker
    • Require a court to set restitution or reparations when a corporation is found guilty of an offense involving the death or injury of a worker
    • Impose a fine of not less than $500,000 nor more than $1 million when a corporation is convicted of a felony involving the death or injury of a worker
    • Impose a fine of not less than $300,000 nor more than $500,000 when a corporation is convicted of a misdemeanor involving the death or injury of a worker

    The ultimate goal of Carlos’ Law is to – “increase punitive measures so that corporations and their agents who ignore or fail to follow safety protocols and procedures and put workers at risk are less likely to write off serious workplace injuries as a minimal cost of doing business, and more likely to give workplace safety the serious attention it requires.”

    Stay Compliant, Partner With GMS

    As a business owner, it’s essential that you take all steps necessary to ensure the safety of your employees. The last thing you want is for an employee to get injured on the job. Add the hefty penalties you could face for not complying with the laws and regulations within each state. Whether you have a business in New York or not, there are always rules in place to ensure you provide a safe work environment for your workers. When you partner with GMS, our safety experts ensure you’ve created a culture of safety to minimize any risks your employees’ daily activities may carry. We help you take a proactive approach to workplace safety through various services, including:

    • Onsite consulting
    • Jobsite inspections
    • Accident and injury investigations
    • Training
    • Job hazard analysis and standard operating procedures
    • OSHA inspection and citation assistance

    Make your work environment a safer place, contact us today.

  • While COVID-19 continues to affect individuals worldwide, states and several counties have extended COVID-19 safety rules, California being one of them. On December 15th, 2022, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted to enact new COVID-19 prevention regulations. These regulations will be effective in January 2023 following a 30-day review period and remain in effect for at least two years.

    Flashback To 2020

    Since the very beginning of COVID-19 in 2020, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CalOSHA) had implemented a series of emergency temporary standards (ETS) to help regulate COVID-19 within the workplace. Under specific conditions, OSHA is authorized to set ETS that take effect immediately and are in effect until superseded by a permanent standard. Typically, these standards are intended to be temporary, with an expiration date of six months. However, California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, has continued to extend various iterations of the California ETS since 2020, with the last ETS expiring at the end of 2022 per executive order.

    What California Employers Need To Know

    As the ETS expired at the end of 2020, California’s Standards Board passed a non-emergency regulation that can stay in place indefinitely. However, the new regulations are only set for two years after their effective date, 2025. While these regulations reflect similarities to the requirements found in the COVID-19 Prevention ETS, the new provisions aim to make it easier for employers to provide consistent protections to their employees. It also allows for more flexibility if changes are made to guidance in the future from the California Department of Public Health.

    The following are requirements of the new regulation:

    • Exclusion of COVID-19 cases from the workplace and return-to-work requirements
    • Providing notice of potential COVID-19 exposures and access to free testing to identify close contacts
    • Implementation of workplace safeguards to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including ventilation enhancements and policies to encourage sick employees to stay home
    • Training of employees on COVID-19 hazards and the requirements of the regulations
    • Additional safety protocols are required for outbreaks (three plus cases in 14 days) and significant outbreaks (20 plus cases in 30 days)
    • Maintaining records for COVID-19 cases among employees

    Employers are not required to provide paid leave to employees that can’t work due to testing positive for COVID-19 or have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19. Since the new regulation follows the same guidelines as the original ETS and is less strict, existing policies should meet the requirements of the regulations. You must be consistent with the guidelines set by the California Department of Public Health. Additional information will be announced here.

    Allow GMS To Help!

    If you’re a business owner that’s been operating since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, you are already aware of specific regulations you must follow and enforce to protect yourself and your employees. However, if you’re a business owner in California, additional regulations are going into effect until 2025. While they may be similar to regulations you already have in place, it’s critical that you’re following them correctly. When you partner with GMS, we ensure you remain compliant and have rules and procedures in place. Whether it’s in your handbook and/or on a workplace poster in your common area, we’re here to help you every step of the way. Contact us today to learn more.