Unfortunately, workplace violence is a recurring theme in American business. Despite the focus by the news media on certain types of workplace violence, violence is NOT limited to larger businesses. Anywhere there are people working together, there is a potential for conflict that can lead, in extreme cases, to violence. Obviously, as an employer, you do your best to hire people who you think will work out well. And, if you exercise some care in observing your employees and dealing with conflicts before they escalate, you further reduce your risk of a problem. Everyone has a life outside of work, and the pressures there can be brought back into the workplace.

The sample safety policy in the attached file is designed to help you create a formal safety policy for your company. It contains the essential elements of a safety policy and is broadly written to cover a variety of workplace environments that pose differing levels of hazards. It can be edited and customized to meet the needs of your business.

If you are subject to OSHA, you are required to keep records of employee illness and injury. In addition to summary information that recaps all of your business's experience, you must also complete a supplemental record covering the details of each individual occurrence. The attached file contains an OSHA-developed form, OSHA Form 301, which can be used to keep a supplemental record of occupational injuries and illnesses. Used in conjunction with OSHA Forms 300 and 300A, Form 301 can be used to satisfy most of the recordkeeping requirements relating to employee illness and injury.

If workers may be exposed to hazardous materials in your workplace, you are required by OSHA to have a written hazard communication program. The program must include not only a list of hazardous chemicals known to be present in the workplace, but also a completed material safety data sheet (MSDS) for every chemical on the list. It must also spell out the method you will use to inform employees of the hazards associated with chemicals and the procedures to be followed with respect to labeling chemicals, updating material safety data sheets, and training employees. The attached file contains two documents designed to help you comply with the requirements. The first is a model written hazard communication program that you can use or modify to build your own program for your workplace. The second is OSHA Form 174, the basic, non-mandatory format developed by OSHA for completing the required MSDS for each hazardous substance on your company's list.

Every employer who is subject to OSHA and has more than 10 employees is required to maintain records relating to employee injuries and illness. This illness and injury log may be kept on a form developed by OSHA, known as Forms 300 and 300A log and summary. Although the records are generally not filed with OSHA, they must be maintained at the worksite for a five-year period and made available to employees and OSHA inspectors.

A big part of being an entrepreneur is learning when to take risks and when to play it safe. Dealing with an emergency in the workplace definitely falls into the latter category. Whether you work out of your home, have a small retail establishment, or occupy larger facilities, you need to minimize the risks you take. Fires, accidents of all sorts, and natural disasters are just a few examples of how your business can be disrupted by things beyond your control.

Federal law dictates that employers must provide information to their employees about hazardous materials and chemicals that employees may be exposed to in the workplace. The vehicle for that information is the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). While there is no specified format for the MSDS, OSHA has developed a non-mandatory format, OSHA Form 174, which may be used by chemical manufacturers and importers to comply with OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard. You are entitled to receive a data sheet from your supplier.

As an employer, you face the very real possibility that, at some time or another, you will hire an employee who has, or will contract, HIV or AIDS. Dealing with the situation poses a number of legal, moral, ethical, and business challenges. One starting point in dealing with this workplace safety issue is a written policy. The attached file contains a sample policy that is designed to address the issue of HIV and AIDS in the workplace and that can be quickly edited and customized for your company. Keep in mind that there are advantages and disadvantages to having a policy and that it is up to you to decide what is best for your business.

The attached file contains a couple of samples that you can use to gather information about an applicant's work history. Customize either one to suit your needs, but be sure not to add any unlawful inquiries to your work history document.

The attached file contains a checklist that is designed to help you choose a temporary agency to provide you with temporary workers. There are many temporary agencies, not all of whom are truly interested in providing quality employees to you. Some will send unqualified people and will charge you a premium price for doing it. It helps you gather the information you'll need to provide to any agency and contains a list of questions and issues that you should address to the agencies that you screen. Using these checklists should help you choose the agency that will best serve your needs and provide you with the best temporary employees.

The attached file contains a form that is designed to help you document a thorough background check on any applicant you may wish to hire. It's important to do a background check to make sure you get the right employee and to make sure that the applicant has been truthful about his or her background and skills. Documenting the checking that you do will help you defend yourself against any claims of negligent hiring by showing that you did the best job you could of making sure that the applicant was fit for employment.

The attached file contains two sample job analysis questionnaires. The first is geared to clerical and administrative positions. The second relates to employees who will be called on to manage people and make decisions affecting your business. Consider either a starting point in examining the needs of your business. Either form can and should be tailored to reflect your situation. The items listed may be right on point, or they may suggest other activities that are more relevant to your business.

When contacting a personal reference supplied by a potential employee, it is important to ask the right questions. Presumably, no one is going to give you the name of a person who will provide a negative reference. In light of that fact, it pays to focus the questions asked on the suitability of the individual for the specific position to be filled. It is all too easy for a reference to discuss what a great person the applicant is.

One of the harder parts in the hiring process is determining exactly what you expect of your new employee. The issue arises early in the process, when you first realize that there is more to be done than you can handle alone. Among the first things you should do is to quantify the physical and mental abilities that the job you are creating will require. This can provide a number of benefits. First, it helps you establish what sort of abilities a successful applicant must have. Second, it provides a starting point for creating a position description and employment ads. Third, it will help in the process of deciding how much to offer, since jobs requiring similar abilities can be compared.

Creating a position description is a key step in the hiring process. You must be able to accurately describe what a new employee will do in order to decide how to divide the work between you and your employee. A position description is also helpful in evaluating whether you need a full-time employee or a part-timer. It can form the basis of advertisements that you run, and can be used to present a clear picture of the job to job applicants. Finally, it can play a part in evaluating whether an employee has met the expectations you set.