"CARE, PROTECT, GROW": THE U.S.COMPLIANCE BLOG

Factory Workers Wearing Hard Hats and Red Safety Vests

Elevating Safety Standards: Effective Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Management

A safety professional’s primary purpose is to identify, analyze, and eliminate hazards before the risk of potential employee exposure. While many of these hazards can be controlled through means of workplace design and modification, some hazards are not as easily controlled and can remain even after thorough process improvements. For the hazards that continue to exist, the last line of defense in the safety arsenal is Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Read More
A storm drain with water running out of it

The Importance of the New EPA Storm Water Permit in Illinois

When it comes to protecting the environment and ensuring regulatory compliance, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IL EPA) plays a crucial role. As part of their efforts, the IL EPA issues storm water permits to industrial sites. These permits, authorized under the Clean Water Act, are essential for maintaining water quality and preventing pollution. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the significance of EPA storm water permits in Illinois and take a look at the new permit put into place on July 1, 2023.

Read More
Man worker with protective mask and suit disinfecting industrial factory with spray gun.

Industrial Hygiene: A Guide to Frequently Asked Questions

By implementing policies and procedures that reduce or eliminate common risks, workplace hygiene measures keep employers accountable for potential workplace hazards and maintain the safety of their employees.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines industrial hygiene as the process of recognizing, evaluating, and controlling potentially harmful hazards in or around the workplace that may impact employees by causing injury or making them ill.

Read More
A map of North America with red pin markers

Multi-Site Organizations – Tools and Tips to Effective EHS

Managing and maintaining the environment, health and safety (EHS) program at a facility with one location can be difficult, but having multiple locations to manage makes the process even more arduous. In this article, we will cover some of the common challenges faced when managing an EHS program at a multi-site organization, along with some tools and tips to assist in creating an effective and consistent program.

Read More
Old man inspecting a machine

Equipment and Facility Inspections

Completing internal safety inspections is a regular occurrence for companies with good safety programs. Within these programs, there are many different types of internal equipment and facility safety inspections that are completed for several different reasons. One reason is to follow OSHA regulations and other applicable related safety standards. But above all, the purpose of conducting these safety inspections should be to prevent injuries. Understanding that goal means that the inspections themselves need to be conducted at such a frequency that allows for sufficient and timely hazard identification as well as the correction of those hazards. In most cases, OSHA (or other related safety standards) specifies or provides guidance regarding the frequency at which inspections should be completed.

Read More

Bloodborne Pathogens: Risk Mitigation in Manufacturing

Regardless of your title, department, job description, or tenure with a company, work-related injuries and exposure to bloodborne pathogens are hazards that employers and employees alike must be ready for. There are certain steps you, as the employer, can take to mitigate the risk of exposure for your employees. Bloodborne pathogens are pathogenic microorganisms found in human blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM).

Read More

Lockout/Tagout: OSHA’s Minor Servicing Exception

OSHA’s Control of Hazardous Energy Standard (29 CFR 1910.147), commonly referred to as Lockout/Tagout, was promulgated on September 1, 1989, and became effective on January 2, 1990. It is estimated that this OSHA standard prevents an average of 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries each year. Employees performing maintenance, service, or repair tasks on powered machinery may face serious physical harm or death if proper energy control procedures are not followed. Injuries resulting from failing to control hazardous energy on powered

Read More

The Comprehensive Fiscal Impact of Workers’ Compensation Injuries

The U.S. Compliance Wellness Team Purpose: To provide comprehensive wellness solutions to reduce and control ergonomic risks, thereby supporting business leadership to Care for their personnel’s health and productivity at work and at home, Protect their business well-being by minimizing costs related to their most valuable assets, and promote Growth of their business as fiscal stewards. Understanding the comprehensive fiscal impact of workers’ compensation injuries on a business is critical for understanding the true financial losses when an injury occurs.

Read More

Transition Your Online Training to a Learning Management System (LMS)

U.S. Compliance is thrilled to announce our investment in a Learning Management System (LMS), a software solution to support the high demand and volume of our client’s online training needs. The LMS seamlessly integrates into our toolkit of existing digital solutions in the EHS Gateway combined with our onsite services.  The LMS provides you easy access to updated educational content and training resources related to compliance regulations, industry-specific standards, and environmental, health, and safety requirements. This tool paired with our

Read More

NAICS Codes – Using Them to Improve Your Safety Focus

What are NAICS Codes? Since 1997, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), pronounced “Nakes,” has been a collaboration between the United States, Mexico, and Canada to provide statistical comparability amongst North American industries. It is a system that is updated every five years and is designed to group North American industries based on their primary activities, processes, and materials used. Entities that have similar processes and use similar materials in similar ways are grouped together. NAICS Code Format NAICS

Read More

OSHA Citations in 2023 and Understanding the New Enforcement Guidance

On November 2, 2015, The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act was passed in Congress. Under the Act, agencies, including the Department of Labor, are required to annually adjust civil monetary penalties to account for inflation. The Department calculates the adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U), utilizing the change from October 2021 to October 2022. The resulting annual adjustment multiplier was 1.07745. With this, 2023 penalty amounts incurred a 7.75% increase to minimum and

Read More