10/29/2008

Oftentimes, managers, supervisors, and even a few safety professionals are unclear about the roles played by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA or DOSH).

OSHA is a federal agency and the primary regulatory and enforcement body for workplace health and safety in the United States. However, 26 states and jurisdictions, including California, have chosen to develop their own job safety and health programs. These state-level programs are subject to approval and monitoring by OSHA.

Each state-level program must include a regulatory framework of job safety and health standards at least as effective as federal standards (as well as a system for inspections, enforcement, and consultation). States also have the option to establish regulations for hazards not covered by federal standards or more stringent standards than those promulgated by OSHA (which California does). And, if OSHA establishes a standard that is more stringent than that of a state-level program, or a regulation for a hazard not covered by a state, the state has six months to bring the state-level program into line with the federal rules.

The bottom line? You need to pay attention to the Cal/OSHA standards, since they often cover more ground and are more stringent than federal OSHA's. Here are just a few examples of where the OSHA and Cal/OSHA standards differ:

1. Requirement for an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP): Since 1991, employers in California (with certain exceptions) have been required to establish and maintain an effective, written IIPP. This distinction between the California state program and the federal program is an important one, since the IIPP standard is the one for which California employers most often receive citations.
   

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2. HazCom: California's hazcom standards differ in a number of ways from the federal standards. For example, in California, material safety data sheets (MSDSs) must include chemical abstract service (CAS) numbers, and potential health risks must be in lay terms. Also, most California employers are required to comply with Proposition 65, which requires employers to provide a warning whenever individuals are exposed to chemicals found on California's list of Chemicals Known to Cause Cancer or Reproductive Toxicity.
   
   
3. Permissible exposure limits (PELs): In California, PELs for some chemicals (including carbon monoxide, ammonia, and toluene) are lower than the federal standards. And for other substances (wood dust, gasoline, and welding fumes, to name a few), California has established PELs where none exist at the federal level.
   
   
4. Ergonomics: OSHA attempted to establish a federal ergonomics standard in 2000; it was rescinded soon after it was promulgated, though OSHA has published voluntary ergonomics guidelines for various industries since then. California established its first-in-the-nation ergonomics standards for employers in 1997. In a nutshell, the California ergonomics standard requires employers with a history of repetitive motion injuries (RMIs) in their workforce to establish an ergonomics program that includes, among other things, worksite evaluations, control measures, and training to reduce RMIs in the workplace. For help with creating a program to reduce ergonomic injuries, download our Special Report, Reducing Ergonomic Hazards

These are just a few of the areas where California workplace health and safety rules differ from the federal rules. There are many others, including key differences in the areas of recordkeeping.

Learn the key distinctions between Cal/OSHA and Fed OSHA

Our exclusive Special Report, Key Differences between California OSHA and Federal OSHA, provides you with a wealth of information on the differences between California and federal standards, including the structure of federal and state standards, the state IIPP and ergonomics rules, differences in workplace injury and illness recordkeeping, and how California regulations differ on hazardous chemicals. It also provides a comprehensive checklist for IIPP compliance and exceptions to the IIPP requirement.

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