Rochelle Council Approves Updated City Safety Program

ROCHELLE — The Rochelle City Council approved a resolution adopting an amended Safety Compliance Program for city operations. City staff said the program, first created in 2020, sets safety standards across all departments while allowing detailed procedures to be handled through department manuals and work specific guidelines. Officials worked with Fehr Graham to review and update the program to meet current regulations and improve safety practices, including revisions to areas such as protective equipment, hearing conservation, fire prevention, respiratory protection, electrical safety, confined space entry, hazard communication, bloodborne pathogens, incident reporting, excavation safety, hot work, hazardous energy control, OSHA recordkeeping, powered industrial trucks, and fall protection. New sections were also added covering silica exposure, job hazard assessments, extreme temperature exposure, first aid access, and contractor safety requirements.