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144 Introduction to OSHA
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OSHA Coverage

The OSH Act covers most private sector employers and their workers, in addition to some public sector employers and workers in the 50 states and certain territories and jurisdictions under federal authority. Those jurisdictions include the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Wake Island, Johnston Island, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands.

State Plans

The OSH Act encourages states to develop and operate their own job safety and health programs and precludes state enforcement of OSHA standards unless the state has an approved program. State Plans are OSHA-approved job safety and health programs operated by individual states rather than federal OSHA.

State-run safety and health programs must be at least as effective (ALAE) as the federal OSHA program. OSHA approves these state plans, monitors them, and provides up to fifty percent of the funding for each program.

Currently, there are 22 states where state plans are approved for both private-sector employees and state and local government employees. An additional six states are approved for state and local government employees only.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

1-3. What area is outside the jurisdiction of OSHA?