The OSH Act has specific limitations. Find out which workers and workplaces are not covered, including the self-employed, immediate family farms, and other key exceptions.

Exceptions to OSHA Who and What the OSH Act Specifically Excludes

Federal workplace safety jurisdiction has defined boundaries. Self-employed individuals, for instance, operate outside its direct oversight. Similarly, farms where only immediate family members perform work find themselves exempt. This exclusion principle extends to workplaces where another federal agency, such as the Mine Safety and Health Administration or Department of Energy, already enforces specific safety and health standards for its workers.

A company's primary responsibility is to correctly identify its governing authority. A coal mining operation, for example, reports to its specific mine safety administration, not general workplace safety regulators. This separation prevents jurisdictional conflicts. A frequent point of failure for businesses is misclassifying workers as independent contractors to sidestep safety compliance obligations. Such a move can result in severe financial penalties and legal action.

Public sector employees, including state, county, and municipal workers, represent another significant group outside direct federal jurisdiction. Protection for these individuals hinges upon location. In states operating an OSHA-approved State Plan, safety and health provisions must extend to public employees. These state-level programs, present in over 20 states, must be at least as stringent as their federal counterparts, creating a patchwork of regulatory authority across United States territory.

OSH Act Coverage: Identifying the Exceptions

Self-employed individuals operate outside federal workplace safety law's jurisdiction. A person working for oneself, without any employees, has no compliance obligations under this particular federal statute. This status changes once they hire even one worker.

Farming operations that exclusively employ immediate family members of the farm employer remain exempt from federal safety and health mandates. This specific exemption applies only to consanguineous relatives, such as a spouse, parents, children, or siblings, and not to extended family or non-family workers.

State and local government workers lack protection from federal safety regulations unless their employment is within one of the states operating an agency-approved State Plan. Federal government agencies must adhere to standards consistent with those for private employers, a requirement managed under Executive Order 12196, not through direct agency enforcement.

Workplace hazards regulated by a different federal body fall outside this legislation's scope. For example, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) maintains authority over mining safety. Likewise, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) dictates safety protocols for railroad employees, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governs conditions for airline flight crews.

Is Your Small Business or Family Farm Exempt from OSHA Regulations?

Your enterprise with ten or fewer employees throughout a previous calendar year is likely free from certain recordkeeping duties and programmed safety inspections.

This inspection exemption specifically applies to industries with a low Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART) rate. Your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code determines this status. An office-based business might qualify, while a small construction company will not. However, any employer must report a worker fatality within 8 hours and any in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours. A General Duty Clause within federal safety legislation, which mandates a workplace free from recognized serious hazards, remains fully in effect for every employer.

Farming operations that employ only immediate family members of a farm's employer receive a broad exemption from federal workplace safety rules.

Immediate family includes one's spouse, parents, stepparents, foster parents, grandparents, children, stepchildren, foster children, and siblings. Hiring a single non-family worker, even temporarily, voids this exemption. An entire farming operation then becomes subject to every standard and regulation from workplace safety administration.

Be aware that states with their own approved workplace safety programs, such as California or Michigan, may possess stricter requirements. These state-level plans can regulate small businesses and family farms that federal statutes do not.

Navigating Overlapping Jurisdictions: When Do Other Federal Agencies Supersede OSHA?

Federal workplace safety authority yields to another federal body when that body actively exercises its legal power to regulate specific working conditions. This preemption is rooted in Section 4(b)(1) of occupational safety legislation. For preemption to occur, a different agency must possess and implement its own set of safety or health rules for a particular hazard or industry, creating a direct displacement of federal workplace safety oversight.

Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) jurisdiction provides a clear example of broad preemption. MSHA regulations govern nearly every safety and health aspect within America's mining sector. This includes coal, metal, and nonmetal mining operations. Consequently, federal workplace safety rules generally have no application inside these facilities, from extraction points to processing plants.

Transportation sectors feature multiple agency overlaps. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards apply to flight crews aboard aircraft in operation, superseding general workplace safety rules for those employees. Similarly, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) mandates protect railroad employees working on or near tracks and trains. For seamen on inspected vessels, United States Coast Guard (USCG) regulations dictate workplace conditions, leaving no room for separate federal safety enforcement.

Some agencies create partial or hazard-specific preemption. Department of Energy (DOE) establishes and enforces its own unique safety protocols for workers at government-owned, contractor-operated nuclear research and production sites. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide statute sets worker protection standards for pesticide applicators, which displaces general duty clause application for chemical exposure hazards in that context.

Public Sector Employees: Determining Your OSHA Protection Status by State

State and local government employees find their workplace safety protections defined by state-level decisions, not directly by federal workplace safety authority. Protection status for a public employee hinges on whether their state administers its own safety program.

States With Comprehensive Plans

These states extend safety and health regulations to most private sector workplaces and public sector employers, including state, county, and municipal employees. State programs must be at least as effective as federal benchmarks. Jurisdictions with such plans include:

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

Wyoming

States With Public-Employee-Only Plans

A separate group of states operates plans safeguarding public employees exclusively. In these locations, federal workplace safety authority presides over private sector employment. These public-employee-only jurisdictions include:

Connecticut

Illinois

Maine

Massachusetts

New Jersey

New York

States Under Federal Jurisdiction

If your state of employment does not appear on prior lists, you likely work in a state under direct federal jurisdiction. In such states, most state and local government workers lack formal safety and health protections from this specific federal framework. This means no state-level equivalent program provides such safeguards. For https://wazambalogin.com , public employees in Texas or Florida do not have protections analogous to those provided by a state-run safety program.

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