State OSHA Health and Safety Standards

Several states and US territories operate a federally approved state plan OSHA program. These “State Plan OSHA Programs” have state-specific safety and health standards that regulate affected worksites within their states.

Most state programs simply adopted Federal OSHA occupational safety and health standards (also known as regulations) and then tweaked or added to them with state-specific information. But a few states actually have significantly different standards that apply to their state’s workplaces.

When Federal OSHA promulgates a new or revised OSHA safety or health standard, the states and territories with approved state plan OSHA programs have six (6) months to come up with an equal or more effective standard.