labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Regardless of which state you live in, by law there should be an OSHA 300 form posted at your place of employment. This unglamorous little poster actually serves a great purpose. It lists all the accidents, injuries and work-related illnesses in the past year. The goal is to prevent future injures.

Under state law, each employer is required to post an Indiana OSHA 300 form from February 1 to April 30 of each year. The 2007 OSHA 300 form recaps work-related illnesses and injuries that occurred at the company in the 2006 calendar year.

Indiana is one of 22 states that have opted out of the federal OSHA program. Instead, the state has its own worker safety organization, INOSHA or Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In general, INOSHA policies mirror those of the federal OSHA, although there are some differences. The following states have approved state OSHA plans: Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

How do you know you are protected under a state OSHA plan? Under federal regulations, each state OSHA plan must have job safety and health standards that are “at least as effective as” comparable federal OSHA standards. So, as a worker you know that you’re safe under a state plan. Most states adopt standards identical to federal ones, so there isn’t a huge difference. However, some states including California have exercised the option to promulgate standards covering hazards not addressed by the federal OSHA standards.

You may be as surprised as I was to learn that three states have state OSHA plans that cover state and local government employees only. These states are Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, plus the Virgin Islands, which is technically not a state.

In those states, businesses, federal agencies, and non-profit organizations are covered by the federal OSHA. Several states, including Kansas, once had state OSHA plans but now fall under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

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