Federal OSHA and State Plans, Explained

There is no single American workplace safety rulebook. There is a federal baseline, and then there are 29 State Plans that replace or supplement it, and an employer working in more than one state is subject to different rules on each side of a state line.

Almost every explanation of this online is either a one-line summary that is useless in practice or a state-by-state table that stopped being accurate two years ago. What follows is the structure, which does not go stale, sourced to the OSH Act and to OSHA's own published lists, checked on 20 August 2026.

Layer one: the federal baseline

Federal OSHA standards are the floor everywhere in the country. The two that matter most to contractors are organized by the kind of work rather than the kind of hazard.

• 29 CFR Part 1910, general industry. Fall protection triggers at four feet under 1910.28(b)(1)(i). Confined space is 1910.146. This is the rulebook for maintenance, service and facility work.
• 29 CFR Part 1926, construction. Fall protection triggers at six feet under 1926.501(b)(1). Confined space is Subpart AA. 1926.32(g) defines construction work as work for construction, alteration, and/or repair, including painting and decorating.

Underneath both sits Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, the General Duty Clause, which requires an employer to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. That clause is how a hazard with no standard still gets cited, and right now it is the entire federal basis for heat enforcement.

Layer two: the State Plan structure

Section 18 of the OSH Act lets a state take over occupational safety and health in its own jurisdiction. 29 plans exist, and they split into two groups that behave very differently.

22 State Plans cover private sector and state and local government workers

Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. That is 21 states plus Puerto Rico. In these jurisdictions the state agency, not federal OSHA, sets the standards and runs the enforcement for your private sector work.

7 State Plans cover state and local government workers only

Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Private sector employers in these seven remain under federal OSHA. This is the group that gets misread most often. A contractor working in New York is a federal OSHA employer.

Everywhere else

Federal OSHA covers private sector workers. State and local government workers in a state with no approved plan have no OSHA coverage at all, because federal OSHA has no jurisdiction over state and local government employers. The only route to covering those workers is a State Plan, which is the reason the second group above exists.

One more wrinkle. Even inside a State Plan state, OSHA provides coverage to certain workers specifically excluded from the plan, with maritime industries and military bases named as examples. A State Plan is not automatically the answer on every site in that state.

Layer three: at least as effective is a floor, not a ceiling

This is the part that decides how a multi-state safety program has to be built, and it comes straight out of two sentences in the statute.

Section 18(c)(2) requires that a plan's standards, and the enforcement of those standards, are or will be at least as effective in providing safe and healthful employment and places of employment as the standards promulgated under Section 6 which relate to the same issues.

Section 18(a) says nothing in the Act prevents a State agency or court from asserting jurisdiction under State law over any occupational safety or health issue with respect to which no standard is in effect under Section 6.

Put those together and the consequence is concrete. A state must meet the federal standard where one exists, and a state may regulate freely where one does not. Heat is the live proof: there is no federal heat standard, and California, Washington, Minnesota, Oregon and Colorado regulate it anyway.

So a safety program written to the federal baseline is the minimum everywhere and the correct answer almost nowhere. A company operating across state lines needs one program built to the strictest jurisdiction it works in, with state-specific modules where a state adds a duty, and one training record set rather than a different local trainer in every branch.

OSHA checks the plans annually through the Federal Annual Monitoring Evaluation, the FAME process, and those reports are public. They are a good way to see what a state regulator is prioritizing before it turns up on your jobsite.

Why there is no state-by-state table on this page

Because we are not willing to maintain one to the standard it would need, and a stale compliance table is worse than no table. The state-by-state chart is the most copied and least updated content in this industry. One vendor builds it, everyone else copies it, and nobody re-checks it when a state amends a rule.

What we publish instead is the structure, which does not go stale, plus the California detail, which we work in every day and re-verify against the regulation text. For any other state, go to that state's own regulator. If you need a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction answer for a real multi-state operation, that is a consulting engagement with a verification date attached to every line, not a web page.

Federal OSHA and State Plan questions, answered

What is an OSHA State Plan?

A workplace safety and health program run by a state or territory instead of federal OSHA, approved and monitored by OSHA. There are 29 of them. Under Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 a state may take over responsibility for occupational safety and health in its own jurisdiction, provided its program meets the statutory test. Where a State Plan covers you, the state agency runs the standards and the enforcement, and the state's rules are the rules you are held to.

Which states have their own OSHA plan?

22 State Plans cover both private sector and state and local government workers: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. That is 21 states plus Puerto Rico. If you operate in any of these, the state agency and the state's standards govern your private sector work, not federal OSHA.

Which states have a plan that covers only government workers?

7 State Plans cover state and local government workers only: Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and U.S. Virgin Islands. This is the category that catches people out. A contractor working in New York or New Jersey is under federal OSHA, not a state plan, because the state plan there reaches only public employees. Private sector employers in these seven remain under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

If my state has no State Plan, who covers my workers?

Federal OSHA covers your private sector workers. State and local government workers in a state with no approved State Plan receive no OSHA coverage at all. That gap surprises people who assume every public employee in the country is covered. It is a direct consequence of how the OSH Act was written: federal OSHA has no jurisdiction over state and local government employers, so the only route to covering them is a State Plan.

Does a State Plan have to be as strict as federal OSHA?

It has to be at least as effective, which is the statutory phrase. Section 18(c)(2) of the OSH Act requires that a state plan's standards, and the enforcement of those standards, are or will be at least as effective in providing safe and healthful employment and places of employment as the standards promulgated under Section 6 which relate to the same issues. Note the wording. At least as effective is a floor, not a ceiling, and it covers enforcement as well as the text of the standard.

Can a state regulate a hazard federal OSHA has no standard for?

Yes. Section 18(a) of the OSH Act says nothing in the Act prevents a State agency or court from asserting jurisdiction under State law over any occupational safety or health issue with respect to which no standard is in effect under Section 6. Heat is the working example. There is no federal heat standard, and California regulates heat illness under 8 CCR 3395 outdoors and 8 CCR 3396 indoors. An employer who writes one program to the federal baseline and assumes it travels has no heat program in California at all.

Does federal OSHA still cover anything in a State Plan state?

Yes. OSHA provides coverage to certain workers specifically excluded from a State Plan, and names maritime industries and military bases as examples of the exclusions that exist in some states. The practical rule for a contractor is that a State Plan is not automatically the whole answer on every site in that state. A job on a military installation or in a maritime setting can sit under federal jurisdiction while the job across the road does not.

How does OSHA make sure a State Plan is actually working?

Through the Federal Annual Monitoring Evaluation, the FAME process. OSHA monitors and evaluates every State Plan annually, assessing whether the plan is operating effectively, tracking progress against its goals, and confirming that mandated responsibilities are being met. FAME reports are public, which makes them a useful and almost entirely unused way to see what a state regulator is prioritizing before it arrives on your site.

I work in more than one state. Whose rules apply?

The rules of the state where the work is performed, and they will not be identical from state to state. Because at least as effective is a floor and Section 18(a) lets a state regulate hazards the federal government has not, a program written to the federal baseline is the minimum everywhere and the correct answer almost nowhere. A multi-state employer needs one program built to the strictest jurisdiction it operates in, with state-specific modules where a state adds a duty. This is also why buying training locally in every branch produces a different course and a different record in every branch. Our training is delivered nationwide for exactly that reason.

Is Cal/OSHA the same as federal OSHA?

No, and California is the widest gap of any State Plan. California operates a State Plan covering both private sector and state and local government workers. Its standards live in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations rather than in 29 CFR, and it regulates in areas federal OSHA does not, including heat illness both outdoors and indoors under 8 CCR 3395 and 8 CCR 3396, and the Injury and Illness Prevention Program required by 8 CCR 3203. A federally written safety program is not a California program.

Which states have their own heat rules?

OSHA's heat page names five states with specific laws governing occupational heat exposure: Washington, Minnesota, California, Oregon and Colorado. California is the deepest, with separate outdoor and indoor standards. Other states have adopted or are moving on heat rules and OSHA's list lags behind the states. Verify any state other than California against that state's own regulator before relying on it, which is the same advice we follow ourselves. The California detail is worked through on our heat illness standards page.

Why do the state-by-state compliance tables online disagree with each other?

Because almost none of them are maintained. A state-by-state regulatory table is the most copied and least updated content on the safety internet: one vendor builds it, everyone else copies it, and none of them re-check it when a state amends a rule. We do not publish one here for that reason. What we publish is the structure, which does not go stale, and the California detail, which we work in every day. For any other state, go to that state's regulator.

What is the General Duty Clause?

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which requires an employer to furnish a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm. It is how federal OSHA cites a hazard that has no specific standard, and it is the entire federal enforcement basis for heat today. It matters more than most employers think, because it means the absence of a standard is not the absence of a duty.

Does the federal standard still matter if I am in a State Plan state?

Yes, as the floor and as the reference point. A State Plan's standards must be at least as effective as the federal standards that relate to the same issues, so the federal text tells you the minimum content of the state rule and is often adopted word for word. Where the state has gone further, the state text controls. Read the federal standard to understand the shape of the duty, then read the state standard to find out what it actually is where you are working.

Which fall protection trigger applies to my work, four feet or six feet?

It depends on whether the work is general industry or construction, not on the state. 29 CFR 1910.28(b)(1)(i) sets the general industry trigger at four feet above a lower level. 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(1) sets the construction trigger at six feet. Both are federal baselines that State Plans must meet or exceed. California adds its own Construction Safety Orders in Title 8, including the residential framing requirements at 8 CCR 1716.2 that changed on 1 July 2025 and are covered on our framing fall protection page.

Which confined space standard applies to my job?

29 CFR 1910.146 covers general industry and 29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA covers construction. The two have different program requirements and the determining factor is the nature of the work, not the location and not the state. Maintenance work sits under general industry; construction work sits under Subpart AA. State Plans build on top of whichever federal standard applies. The maintenance versus construction line is worked through in detail on our HVAC contractor page. Which of the two standards applies, and who owes what between the host employer, the controlling contractor and the entry employer, is set out in the confined space standards: which one applies, and who owes what.

Working in more than one state?

M Squared Safety builds safety programs for employers operating across state lines, writes the state-specific modules where a State Plan adds a duty, and delivers training nationwide so a multi-branch company gets one course and one set of records instead of a different trainer in every city. Consulting, training and Fractional EHS. Call 949-954-6581 or use the contact page.