OSHA State Plans: Which States Run Their Own Safety Programs
Federal OSHA does not run workplace safety enforcement everywhere. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, a state can operate its own program if the federal government approves it as at least as effective as federal OSHA. 29 states and territories now run an approved program of their own.
Of those, 22 run a full plan covering both private sector and state and local government workers, and 7 cover state and local government workers only, with private employers in those states staying under federal OSHA. This report lists each program and explains what state-plan status means for the people who work and the employers who operate in those states.
Key facts
- 29 OSHA-approved state plans operate across the United States.
- 22 are full plans covering both private and public sector workers.
- 7 cover state and local government workers only; private employers in those states remain under federal OSHA.
- A state plan must be at least as effective as federal OSHA, and some adopt standards that go further.
- OSHA approves and monitors each plan under Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
What a state plan is
When Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970, it allowed states to keep running their own job safety programs rather than hand all enforcement to the new federal agency. Section 18 of the Act lets a state submit a plan to OSHA, and if OSHA finds the plan at least as effective as the federal program, it approves it. The state then sets and enforces its own standards, which must meet or exceed the federal requirements.
OSHA continues to approve and monitor these plans. A full plan covers private sector employers along with state and local government employers. A smaller group of states runs a plan that covers state and local government workers only, because federal OSHA does not have authority over state and local government employees on its own. In those states, private sector workplaces stay under federal OSHA.
The 22 full state plans
These states and territories run a full OSHA-approved plan covering both private and public sector workplaces. Enforcement in these places is carried out by the state program, and those inspection records are included in the federal enforcement database this site draws on, which is why you will find records for employers in state-plan states throughout the site.
| State or territory | Program |
|---|---|
| Alaska | Alaska Occupational Safety and Health |
| Arizona | Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) |
| California | Cal/OSHA |
| Hawaii | Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health (HIOSH) |
| Indiana | Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IOSHA) |
| Iowa | Iowa OSHA |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health (KY OSH) |
| Maryland | Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) |
| Michigan | Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) |
| Minnesota | Minnesota OSHA (MNOSHA) |
| Nevada | Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (NV OSHA) |
| New Mexico | New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau |
| North Carolina | North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health (NC OSH) |
| Oregon | Oregon OSHA (OR-OSHA) |
| Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico Occupational Safety and Health Administration (PR OSHA) |
| South Carolina | South Carolina OSHA (SC OSHA) |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health (TOSHA) |
| Utah | Utah Occupational Safety and Health (UOSH) |
| Vermont | Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration (VOSHA) |
| Virginia | Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) |
| Washington | Washington Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Occupational Safety and Health (WY OSHA) |
California's program, Cal/OSHA, is the largest of these by inspection volume on record. See our Cal/OSHA report for what California's enforcement records show.
The 7 public-sector-only plans
These states and territories run a plan that covers state and local government employees only. Private sector employers in these places are under federal OSHA jurisdiction.
What it means for workers and employers
Where you work determines which agency sets and enforces the safety rules. In a full state-plan state, the state program handles inspections, citations, and complaints for most workplaces, under the state's own standards. In a public-sector-only state, government workers are covered by the state program while private employers answer to federal OSHA. Everywhere else, federal OSHA has jurisdiction over private sector workplaces. To confirm the program for a specific state, OSHA maintains a State Plans directory, and you can browse enforcement records for any state from our states index.
Methodology and sources
The number of state plans and their classification come from OSHA's State Plans program: 22 plans covering private and public sector workers and 7 covering public employees only, for 29approved plans in total. The authority for state plans is Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667). Program names and per-state jurisdiction reflect OSHA's published designations. The note that state-plan inspection records appear in this site's data reflects that state programs report enforcement activity to the federal system used across this site. State-plan counts are maintained in a single reference file and updated only when OSHA changes them.
An OSHA state plan is a workplace safety and health program run by a state or U.S. territory instead of federal OSHA. Under Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, a state may operate its own program if OSHA approves it as at least as effective as the federal program. OSHA approves and monitors these plans.
There are 29 OSHA-approved state plans. 22 cover both private sector and state and local government workers, and 7 cover state and local government workers only. In the remaining states, federal OSHA has jurisdiction over private sector workplaces.
No. A state plan must be at least as effective as federal OSHA to be approved, and several state plans adopt standards that go beyond the federal rules. California's Cal/OSHA, for example, enforces a statewide Injury and Illness Prevention Program and a Heat Illness Prevention standard that have no direct federal equivalent.
If you work in a state with a full state plan, the state program inspects most private and public workplaces. If you work in a public-sector-only plan state, the state program covers state and local government employees while federal OSHA covers private employers. In all other states, federal OSHA has jurisdiction over private sector workplaces. OSHA's State Plans page lists the program for each state.
Data Source and Methodology
Data synced dailyData on this page comes from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement database, accessed via the DOL public data API. Records are updated daily. We strive for accuracy, but errors in data processing or establishment grouping are possible. Penalty amounts reflect the latest penalty amounts on record in the DOL database and may differ from initial assessments or final amounts after informal conference, settlement, or judicial review. Company pages group inspection records by normalized employer name, city, and state as reported in OSHA records. That grouping is deterministic and non-fuzzy, but it is not a universal legal-entity identifier. If you believe any record is inaccurate, please report it and we will investigate. This product uses the DOL Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the DOL. For official and authoritative records, visit osha.gov.