SAFETY & COMPLIANCE NEWS
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Copyright 2025 J. J. Keller & Associate, Inc. For re-use options please contact copyright@jjkeller.com or call 800-558-5011.
FEATURED NEWS
2025-08-29T05:00:00Z
NewsIndustry NewsSafety and Health Programs and TrainingSafety & HealthConstruction SafetyGeneral Industry SafetySafety and Health Programs and TrainingIn-Depth ArticleEnglishFocus AreaUSA
Safety should be a value, not a priority
When I’ve delivered presentations to groups of safety professionals, quite a few commented that safety should be a value rather than a priority. Their reasoning was that priorities change, but values do not change. If safety is a priority, it may have to compete with other priorities. In contrast, making safety a value means it’s simply expected of everyone.
If you’ve faced challenges making safety a value at your organization, consider these tips for addressing opposition. The more areas you can touch upon, the better your odds of building support for additional resources.
Recruiting and retention
As a safety professional, you aren’t satisfied with a safety record that is “good enough.” You want to eliminate hazards to prevent all injuries. Achieving an exemplary safety record and highlighting that achievement could become part of a recruiting and retention strategy.
To attract job applicants, employers must set themselves apart. Job candidates expect certain benefits like health insurance, but they also want to work for a company that cares about employees. Promoting your emphasis on safety could help attract job seekers. They won’t be impressed by an “average” safety record.
As a bonus, a renewed safety focus could also increase employee retention, reducing the need (and cost) to find and train replacements. Further, employees who feel valued and connected to their employer are typically more productive.
Avoid production disruptions
While safety should be a value because protecting employees is the right thing to do, showing the costs of injuries (and savings from improvements) may help you gain support.
Safe work practices should not inhibit production, but injuries can disrupt production in addition to the costs of medical treatment and lost work time. A serious incident that requires a trip to the hospital may require stopping production to treat the injured worker. Further, an in-patient hospitalization must be reported to OSHA and could generate an inspection, taking more time away from other priorities. A serious injury can also negatively impact the morale of other workers and result in negative media coverage that affects the company’s reputation.
Many of these costs can be measured (how much does each hour of lost productivity cost?) but costs like damage to reputation are harder to assign a dollar value. A stronger focus on safety could avoid those issues.
Safety is profitable
Finally, the number and severity of injuries affect your workers’ compensation rates. Improving safety can result in substantial savings. Since workers’ comp uses a three-year claim history, a serious incident affects your rates for the next several years. The savings from an improved safety record may take a couple of years to materialize, but cutting those costs means more money in the profit column. To illustrate, if your company has a 10 percent profit margin and decreases workers’ compensation premiums by $15,000 per year, that’s the equivalent profit from $150,000 in sales.
By laying out the costs of injuries and the benefits of safety improvements, you may have a better chance of making safety a core company value, and increase your chances of securing resources for safety initiatives.
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RECENT INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS
2025-08-29T05:00:00Z
NewsI-9sI-9sE-VerifyHR ManagementEnglishHuman ResourcesTalent Management & RecruitingAssociate Benefits & CompensationIndustry NewsIndustry NewsRecruiting and hiringRecruiting and hiringHR GeneralistAssociate RelationsFocus AreaUSA
New E-Verify process requires ongoing review of employee status reports
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released additional guidance for employers using E-Verify. Those employers must regularly check status change reports to identify employees whose employment authorization documents (EADs) have been revoked.
Employers are responsible for regularly accessing the report, the agency notes in a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) updated on August 26.
Information about a revoked EAD used to be provided automatically via case alerts in the system. Since late June, that information has been issued through status change reports that are accessed through an employer’s E-Verify dashboard.
The agency’s FAQs also note that:
- The report includes the document reverification date, case number, A-number (alien registration number), and document number for each affected case.
- An employer working with an employer agent should contact the agent for status report information.
- If an employee’s EAD card number matches a revoked number listed in the report, the employer must reverify the employee using Supplement B of the Form I-9 within a reasonable amount of time.
- An employee whose EAD has been revoked may provide other acceptable Form I-9 documentation to prove employment authorization.
- If an employee’s EAD card number is different than a revoked number listed on the report, the employer does not need to reverify employment authorization until the document expires.
- An updated status change report is posted about every two weeks.
Key to remember: Employers must regularly log into E-Verify and access status change reports to identify employees whose employment authorization documents have been revoked.
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2025-08-29T05:00:00Z
NewsChange NoticesChange NoticeCriteria Air PollutantsCAA ComplianceEnvironmentalRhode IslandFocus AreaEnglishAir PermittingAir ProgramsStationary Emission Sources
Rhode Island adds monthly recordkeeping flexibility
Effective date: June 6, 2025
This applies to: Sources required to record monthly data for nitrogen oxide emissions and/or distributed/emergency generators with a general permit
Description of change: The Office of Air Resources removed monthly recordkeeping limits for:
- Stationary sources that emit nitrogen oxides (NOx), and
- Stationary sources with general permits for emergency generators and distributed generators.
The office amended Part 27 to remove the requirement to record within the first 15 days of the month:
- Fuel usage and the quantity of NOx emitted, and/or
- The hours of operation for each engine and/or combustion unit.
The office also amended Part 43 to remove the requirement to record within the first five days of the month:
- Fuel usage for each distributed generator, and/or
- Hours of operation for each emergency generator.
Sources may record the data at any time within the month.
View related state info: Clean air operating permits — Rhode Island
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2025-08-29T05:00:00Z
NewsGreenhouse GasesChange NoticesChange NoticeCaliforniaCAA ComplianceEnvironmentalFocus AreaEnglishAir Programs
California strengthens Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Effective date: July 1, 2025
This applies to: Any entity that sells or supplies transportation fuel in the state
Description of change: The California Air Resources Board (or CARB) amended the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) to set more stringent LCFS carbon intensity (CI) benchmarks. The amendments require:
- A 30 percent reduction in fuel CI by 2030, and
- A 90 percent reduction in fuel CI by 2045.
The amendments also:
- Adopt a near-term step down of CI benchmarks and automatic increases of CI benchmark stringency when triggered;
- Streamline application and reporting requirements, quantification methods, and analysis tools; and
- Updates third-party verification and validation requirements.
View related state info: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Regulation State Comparison
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2025-08-29T05:00:00Z
NewsGroundwaterChange NoticesChange NoticeWater ProgramsColoradoEnvironmentalCWA ComplianceEnglishFocus Area
Colorado revises water well construction rules
Effective date: January 1, 2026
This applies to: Entities subject to the Well Construction Rules
Description of change: The Board of Examiners of Water Construction and Pump Installation Contractors adopted amendments to:
- Establish online, open-book assessments for well owners constructing wells or installing pumping equipment;
- Change well construction requirements for Confined (Type 1) Aquifers by:
- Expanding minimum annular space for grout,
- Specifying sealing requirements,
- Allowing solid casing for all confined aquifer wells, and
- Allowing solid granular bentonite for minimum grouting requirements.
- Change monitoring and observation requirements by:
- Establishing minimum grouting interval and grouting annular space requirements,
- Restricting filter packs to the monitored interval, and
- Improving abandonment requirements.
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2025-08-29T05:00:00Z
NewsChange NoticesChange NoticeCAA ComplianceEnvironmentalWashingtonFocus AreaEnglishAir ProgramsStationary Emission SourcesOzone Depleting Substances
Washington updates protocol for Cap-and-Invest Program
Effective date: August 21, 2025
This applies to: Businesses subject to the Climate Commitment Act Program rule
Description of change: The Department of Ecology updated the offset protocol for ozone-depleting substances (ODS) to expand the scope of offset projects available to Cap-and-Invest Program participants. The amendments to chapter 173-446 WAC:
- Restrict project invalidation liability for ODS projects,
- Adopt a new ODS protocol based on one used by the California Air Resources Board, and
- Require all ODS offset projects that begin after the effective date of this rule to use the new protocol.
View related state info: Clean air operating permits — Washington
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Copyright 2025 J. J. Keller & Associate, Inc. For re-use options please contact copyright@jjkeller.com or call 800-558-5011.