Federal Labor Guidance
Free plain-English summaries of opinion letters, administrative policies, and interpretive notices from the U.S. Department of Labor, with the current status and the official source on every page.
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Standby rescue personnel for sour crude oil tank gauging
An oil company asked OSHA to revisit a prior interpretation requiring two standby people for open hatch gauging of sour crude tanks in immediately dangerous atmospheres. OSHA said it had reexamined…
Interim inspection policy for postal sorting ergonomics reports
OSHA gave field offices interim instructions for handling reports of cumulative trauma disorders at postal sorting facilities. It called for limited inspections and records checks while national…
Chemical cartridge respirator limits for organic vapors
OSHA sent regional offices guidance for selecting chemical cartridge respirators for organic vapors after NIOSH changed labeling. The attached OSHA guidelines set concentration and warning-property…
Poison center hotline as a supplement to safety sheets
A poison center asked whether its phone, fax, and computer service could support fixed and mobile workers' access to material safety data sheets. OSHA said a hotline could supplement the program if…
COBRA notices delegated by a plan administrator
The requester asked whether assigning COBRA continuation notices to another person could relieve it of the statutory notice duty. EBSA said the administrator remains responsible for seeing that…
Subpoenas and evidence in interstate unemployment appeals
ETA said people appealing an interstate unemployment claim must have a fair way to request evidence needed for the hearing. When evidence in another state is necessary and cannot be obtained…
Hepatitis B vaccination for new, probationary, and short-term workers
A dental association asked whether employees could begin work before completing hepatitis B shots and whether probationary or short-term staff qualified. OSHA said work could begin before the series…
Orthodontic wires as contaminated sharps
A dental association asked whether used orthodontic wires were sharps. OSHA said blood contamination of saliva during dental procedures was predictable and wire ends could puncture skin, so the…
Guarding and lockout for bowling pinsetting machines
A New Zealand safety official asked about U.S. rules for bowling pinsetting machines. OSHA said it had no pinsetter-specific regulation, but general machine guarding and lockout/tagout rules could…
Employee choice in HAZWOPER medical surveillance
An environmental employer asked whether HAZWOPER required employees to undergo medical exams. OSHA said employers had to make surveillance and consultation available, but the rule did not require…
Fire extinguisher upkeep in schools and school buses
A congresswoman asked about fire extinguisher servicing in schools and buses. OSHA said employers, rather than servicing vendors, were responsible for inspection, maintenance, and records under its…
Scaffold frame rung spacing as a de minimis violation
A consultant asked about ladder rung spacing on metal scaffold end frames. OSHA said its rules specified twelve inches, but it would treat spacing up to sixteen and a half inches as a de minimis…
Climbing-side clearance on fixed tower ladders
A contractor asked about head clearance on fixed ladders for radio towers. OSHA said its telecommunications rule did not specify the clearance, so the general fixed-ladder rule requiring thirty…
Silica hazard warnings for stone and concrete shipments
A stone industry association asked whether silica warnings belonged on shipments of stone and concrete. OSHA said hazard information could accompany vehicle shipping papers and that manufacturers…
Farmworker pesticide communication and field sanitation inspections
A farmworker legal group asked about field sanitation inspections and pesticide hazard information. OSHA said it planned to maintain inspections and had temporarily stopped enforcing the hazard…
Sharing safety sheets at multi-employer construction sites
A contractor group asked who must keep material safety data sheets at a shared construction site. OSHA said each contractor had to make sheets for chemicals that could expose other workers available…
Material safety data sheet duties of retail hardware stores
A hardware trade group asked how retailers should handle safety sheets for products sold to employers and consumers. OSHA said retail distributors selling hazardous chemicals to employers had to…
Formaldehyde controls in medical school anatomy laboratories
A medical college association asked whether private medical schools could feasibly meet OSHA's formaldehyde standard in gross anatomy laboratories. OSHA said controls were technically and…
CARE Trust as a multiple employer welfare arrangement
The request asked whether the Continental Association of Resolute Employers Trust was a MEWA and subject to state insurance regulation. EBSA found that it served workers of separate employers, so it…
Gwynedd Mercy College benefit plans as church plans
A Catholic college asked whether its employee benefit plans were church plans. EBSA found the college and plan administration associated with the Catholic Church through the sponsoring religious…
Uihlein Mercy Center benefit plans as church plans
A Catholic care center asked whether its three employee benefit plans were church plans. EBSA found the center and plan committee associated with the Catholic Church through the Sisters of Mercy, so…
Payment for prescription safety glasses
A worker asked whether the employer or employee had to pay for prescription safety glasses. OSHA said the cited protective equipment rules did not then assign the cost and described the matter as…
Salary deferrals in an unfunded top-hat plan
An employer asked whether allowing selected managers to defer part of their pay would make its nonqualified plan funded and subject the withheld amounts to an ERISA plan-assets regulation. EBSA said…
MDPhysicians employee benefit plan as a MEWA
The request asked whether the MDPhysicians employee benefit plan was a MEWA and could be regulated by the state. EBSA found that it served workers of separate employers and was a MEWA subject to…
Machine setup, production safeguards, and lockout procedures
A manufacturer asked how the lockout/tagout rule applied to routine machine setup and servicing. OSHA said alternative production safeguards could suffice when they protected workers from unexpected…
Escape breathing apparatus during hazardous waste site entry
A health and safety officer asked when hazardous waste site workers must carry an escape self-contained breathing apparatus. OSHA said initial entrants need an escape unit of at least five minutes…
Keeping unemployment appeals simple, speedy, and inexpensive
ETA warned that unemployment appeals can grow costly and technical when parties fear that the outcome will control a later case. It told state agencies to examine whether their hearings remain…
Flammable liquids and dip tank standards
A chemical company asked how OSHA's flammable liquid and dip tank rules applied to small tanks and testing. OSHA said dip tank coverage did not depend on tank volume and accepted ASTM flash point…
Missouri Pacific health association outside one ERISA plan
A railway employee health association asked whether it was an ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said neither a qualifying employer nor employee organization established or maintained the association program,…
Governmental status of the Washington Convention Center pension plan
EBSA concluded that the Washington Convention Center is a District of Columbia governmental agency or instrumentality, so its employee pension plan is a governmental plan excluded from ERISA Title…
Training for workers in uncontaminated hazardous waste site areas
The Army Corps of Engineers asked whether support and construction workers in uncontaminated areas of a hazardous waste cleanup site needed HAZWOPER training. OSHA said the rule did not cover…
Telecommunicated requests and responses for interstate wage transfers
ETA answered state agencies' questions about electronic requests and responses for combined wage claims. It said agencies should send available wages promptly, identify partial transfers, and send…
Release of calendar-year 1989 unemployment quality-control data
ETA gave states procedures and dates for releasing unemployment benefit quality-control results for calendar year 1989. It specified a database cutoff, annual report format, state narratives,…
Insurer-run accident and sickness program for unrelated employers
An insurer offered accident and sickness coverage through payroll deductions at unrelated employers. EBSA said the common program was not itself an ERISA employee welfare plan because the employers…
Fire brigade duties, respirators, and rescue
An OSHA regional office sought answers about incipient stage fire brigade duties and self-contained breathing apparatus. OSHA said those members should not enter smoke or toxic environments for…
Proposed coal-industry benefits trust and separate employer plans
A proposed trust would offer benefits to coal-industry employers through a trustee. EBSA said the trust was not itself an ERISA welfare plan because the employers lacked a genuine organization and…
State insurance oversight of a food-store benefits trust
Texas asked whether a group benefits trust covering workers of separate employers was a multiple employer welfare arrangement. EBSA said it was a MEWA and was subject to state insurance regulation…
Qualifications for annual bakery oven inspectors
A bakery oven service company asked whether its staff could perform annual inspections that the OSHA standard assigned to oven manufacturers' representatives. OSHA said qualified, knowledgeable…
Hazardous waste responder and hazard communication training
A service company asked about first responder awareness training under the hazardous waste rule and its overlap with hazard communication training. OSHA said training had to match workers' roles and…
Inspector General role in unemployment fraud investigations
ETA told state unemployment agencies that DOL's Inspector General would keep investigating fraud cases involving federal funds or state agency employees, but would return cases involving only state…
Glove box system for asbestos pipe insulation removal
An insulation contractor asked whether a glove box system met OSHA's asbestos removal requirements for pipe insulation. OSHA said the system appeared to meet the cited provision if other asbestos…
Diesel exhaust hazard disclosure on safety data sheets
OSHA sent diesel fuel manufacturers a notice about their material safety data sheets. It said manufacturers had to account for diesel exhaust during normal fuel use and report evidence of its…
Hazardous waste training for contaminated surface removal
A cleanup company asked whether HAZWOPER training applied when its crews removed contaminated concrete or coatings after spill recovery. OSHA said the work likely fell under the rule because cleanup…
Crystalline silica warning on insulation product labels
A product supplier asked whether crystalline silica released while cutting insulation could be disclosed on a material safety data sheet without a label warning. OSHA said potential exposure to more…
Tobacco smoke and workplace exposure limits
A requester asked what concentration of workplace tobacco smoke was too much. OSHA said it had no rule for tobacco smoke as a whole, but exposure limits for several components could apply; it listed…
HAZWOPER coverage for removal of petroleum storage tanks
A contractor asked whether HAZWOPER applies to removal of underground tanks that contain or once contained petroleum products. OSHA said petroleum products count as hazardous substances under the…
Voluntary real-property contribution to an employee stock ownership plan
An employer proposed to contribute unencumbered buildings to its employee stock ownership plan. EBSA said a purely voluntary contribution that did not replace a required cash contribution was not…
Profit-sharing plan trades in employer stock
A profit-sharing plan proposed employer-stock trades with parties in interest. A separate stockholder agreement set a formula price for other investors, but the plan’s trades would not be subject to…
Recapping used syringes under OSHA's bloodborne pathogen policy
A dentist asked about OSHA's prohibition on recapping syringes. OSHA said a revised 1990 enforcement directive allowed methods other than traditional two-handed recapping, including resheathing…
Fiscal 1990 sequestration and unemployment benefits
ETA explained how fiscal 1990 federal budget reductions affected unemployment programs, including the federal share of extended benefits. It described when states could reduce extended benefit…
Machine guarding and training on drilling rigs
A member of Congress asked which OSHA rules protect workers around drilling rig rotary equipment. OSHA said the general industry machine guarding rule applies to machinery without a more specific…
Chemical hazard labels and predicted downstream exposure
A chemical supplier asked whether it could leave health hazards off labels when it expected low exposure during downstream use. OSHA said potential exposure to a well-substantiated hazard generally…
Selective Service registration under the Job Training Partnership Act
ETA told state and local Job Training Partnership Act programs how to check male applicants' Selective Service registration before enrollment. For applicants aged 26 or older who had not registered,…
Rolling compressed gas cylinders on their lower edge
A transportation company asked whether workers could move compressed gas cylinders by rolling them on their lower edge. OSHA said the incorporated Compressed Gas Association handling standard…
Guardrail loads and portable platform design
An engineer asked OSHA for additional guidance on handrails and guardrails on portable platforms. OSHA pointed to a National Bureau of Standards report and gave load and stability criteria for the…
First aid course review and draft training guidelines
A health system asked OSHA to certify its first aid course. OSHA said it had stopped reviewing first aid courses at the national office and that training should match the hazards at each workplace.…
Good cause for late unemployment quality-control case completion
ETA gave state unemployment agencies a way to explain why some 1989 quality-control investigations missed the 90-day completion target. Agencies had to analyze all delayed cases if there were 30 or…
Alternative hepatitis B vaccination doses and routes
A medical center asked whether low-dose or intradermal hepatitis B vaccination could count as standard recommended practice for employees in a research study. OSHA said it would not treat an…
Current consensus standards and power-transmission guarding
An engineer asked about guarding mechanical power-transmission equipment under an older OSHA standard and a newer consensus standard. OSHA said its adopted rule remained effective until revised, but…
Lower blade guards on radial arm saws
A saw manufacturer asked whether its lower blade guard met OSHA's radial arm saw rule. OSHA said the photographed guard appeared to meet the rule's intent and pointed to an earlier enforcement…
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These are official interpretive documents from the U.S. Department of Labor: opinion letters answering questions from employers and workers, administrative policies, and interpretive notices. They show how the agency applies wage-and-hour and workplace law to real situations, but they are guidance, not statutes or court decisions, and the agency can supersede or withdraw them. Every page above shows the document's current status, when that status was last verified, and a link to the official source.