One key rule survives – and it could catch employers off guard
Nebraska repeals key workplace safety provisions for public employers and terminates a state consultation program fund.
The Nebraska Legislature has passed LB 397, a bill that dismantles portions of the state's workplace safety framework and terminates funding for a workplace safety consultation program. Introduced by Senator Moser of District 22, the bill was passed during the Second Session of the One Hundred Ninth Legislature in 2026.
At its core, LB 397 does two things that HR professionals at Nebraska public employers need to pay attention to. First, it outright repeals sections 48-444 and 48-445 of the Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, which related to safety committees and a safety program. Second, it terminates the Workplace Safety Consultation Program Cash Fund, directing the State Treasurer to transfer any remaining money in the fund to the General Fund.
The bill does not wipe out all safety obligations. Under the amended Section 48-443, public employers covered by the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act still have to set up a safety committee and keep an effective written injury prevention program in place. For unionized workplaces, the committee can be formed through collective bargaining. For non-union employers, the committee must include equal numbers of employee and employer representatives, and the employer cannot handpick the employee members. Those members must be chosen through procedures...
Two Canada-based steel companies, Farjess Inc. and Royal Canadian Steel Inc., along with their part-owner and president, Feroz Jessani, have agreed to pay $19 million to resolve allegations that t...