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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Positive locking hook latch for crane personnel platforms
An equipment user asked whether a proposed crane hook latch met the positive locking requirement for personnel platforms. OSHA said its gravity latch could dislodge and suggested a bolt-and-nut…
Transferring from an aerial lift to a fixed structure
An aerial equipment maker asked for clarification on transferring workers from a lift basket to a fixed structure. OSHA said the worker should secure a drop line and transfer the lanyard to the…
Bank employee medical plan during 1980 to June 1981
EBSA said a bank’s employee medical plan was an ERISA welfare plan during 1980 through June 15, 1981, on the facts given. It expressed no view on plan compliance or the later period with a different…
Rollover protection for a moving backhoe operator's seat
A manufacturer asked whether a tractor with a backhoe attachment could move slowly while operated from a backhoe seat without rollover protection. OSHA said the unprotected seat met the construction…
Spliced pump-jack scaffold poles
A scaffold association asked whether pump-jack poles could be made from spliced two-by-fours. OSHA said splices could replace continuous members when constructed to develop the full strength of each…
California pharmacists trust and ERISA plan status
EBSA said a pharmacists association trust was not itself an ERISA welfare plan because the association was neither a qualifying employer group nor employee organization. State regulation of the…
Hazardous-waste training and professional certification
A certified hazardous materials manager asked whether his certification was equivalent to HAZWOPER's 40-hour training requirement. OSHA said it does not approve or disapprove generic courses or…
Immigration reform and unemployment claims procedures
ETA explained how immigration-status verification requirements affect unemployment claim taking, benefit determinations, and information sharing with INS. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Wood dust under the hazard communication standard
OSHA told its regional offices that wood dust was covered by the expanded hazard communication rule, reversing an earlier policy against citations. The memo said wood dust should be treated as a…
Disclosure of trustees minutes reviewing investments
EBSA said trustees’ minutes did not become disclosable under ERISA section 104(b)(4) solely because they reviewed an investment manager’s performance. Minutes that actually established or operated a…
Quality-control program improvement studies
ETA set guidance for state quality-control studies intended to support improvements in unemployment program administration and use of QC data. Current status is unconfirmed.
ERISA preemption of Arkansas pharmacy-choice law
EBSA said Arkansas Act 489 was preempted insofar as it applied to ERISA-covered employee benefit plans and did not qualify for a cited statutory exception. It did not decide that exception’s…
Utah education trust retirement plan as governmental
EBSA said a retirement plan maintained through a trust formed by Utah school districts and public education agencies constituted one or more governmental plans excluded from ERISA Title I. It left…
Municipal hospital deferred compensation plan
EBSA said a California municipal hospital’s deferred compensation plan was a governmental plan excluded from ERISA Title I because the hospital was a city agency and, according to the requester, the…
Lifelines on two-point suspended powered platforms
An engineer asked about fall protection for workers on two-point suspended powered platforms. OSHA said its instruction did not bar use of the standard’s lifeline options, discussed precautions for…
Plastic meat-wrap fumes and hazard communication
A lawyer asked which OSHA requirements might apply when workers wrap meat in plastic. OSHA said any released contaminants must first be identified before matching them to air-contaminant standards,…
Grain dust under the hazard communication rule
A member of Congress asked about the expanded hazard communication rule on behalf of a grain industry constituent. OSHA said grain dust was covered because of explosion and respiratory hazards,…
Broker loans to plans outside securities trades
EBSA said the PTE 75-1 credit exemption did not cover broker loans to benefit plans that did not arise directly from specific securities purchases, and ERISA’s service exemption did not extend to…
Oil-lubricated compressors and safety data sheets
A compressor manufacturer asked whether it had to provide material safety data sheets for oil-lubricated compressors or their compressed air. OSHA said the compressors were exempt articles because…
Reissued UI internal security risk-analysis guide
ETA transmitted a previously omitted volume of its optional technical assistance guide for state UI security risk analyses. Current status is unconfirmed.
Crane-suspended work platforms under construction rules
A regional administrator asked about workers using a platform suspended from a lattice or hydraulic crane boom. OSHA said it interpreted the construction crane rule to permit suspended work…
UCFE claims processing and overpayment recovery
ETA reissued and clarified claims-processing and overpayment recovery procedures for unemployment compensation for federal employees. Current status is unconfirmed.
Hazard labels and data sheets for carbide cutter teeth
A stump-removal equipment maker asked about hazard labels and material safety data sheets for carbide-tipped cutter teeth that customers grind. OSHA said labels for solid metal teeth could be sent…
Recirculating air from paint spray booths
A body shop owner asked whether filtered paint booth exhaust could be recirculated to save heat. OSHA said its spray-finishing rule prohibited recirculation, while a compliant workplace using the…
Blank sections on material safety data sheets
OSHA field staff asked how to handle blank blocks on material safety data sheets under the hazard communication standard. OSHA said preparers should use words showing information is unavailable or…
Distributor duties under expanded hazard communication rule
A lawyer asked whether earlier hazard communication interpretations survived the 1987 expansion of the standard. OSHA said they did, but distributors with exposed employees also needed data sheets,…
Retention of superseded material safety data sheets
A printing industry association asked what to do with superseded material safety data sheets for mixtures. OSHA said a prior sheet could be discarded if a new sheet covered the same hazardous…
Lift-slab construction after the Bridgeport collapse
After a lift-slab building collapse, OSHA told its regional offices it had asked construction firms to verify lifting-system components and obtain an engineer's progressive-failure analysis before…
Four-worker limit for crane-suspended work platforms
A contractor asked to carry more than four workers in crane-suspended platforms that it said were large and strong enough for its crews. OSHA said platform strength alone did not provide the same…
Temporary lighting strings at construction sites
A construction company asked whether manufactured temporary lighting strings met OSHA's construction wiring rules. OSHA said open wiring was allowed for temporary lighting circuits and listed or…
Approval of electrical equipment under construction standards
OSHA clarified the approval requirement for electrical equipment in its construction standards. It said the wording differed from the general industry rule without intending to expand testing…
Horns and reverse alarms on bulldozers
A construction trade association asked how the horn requirement differs from an audible reverse alarm and whether a bulldozer can use an alarm or signaler instead. OSHA said the horn provides a…
Quality-control questions and answers, Change 1
ETA answered state agencies’ questions about unemployment quality-control procedures and supplemented UIPL 08-87 with an attached question-and-answer document. Current status is unconfirmed.
Target organs and chemical hazards under hazard communication
A lawyer asked how the hazard communication standard defined target organs and chemical hazards. OSHA explained that a chemical may cause its main toxic effects in particular organs, pointed to data…
Art materials and hazard communication duties
An art-materials trade association asked how OSHA's hazard communication standard applied to its members. OSHA said consumer-product labeling rules displaced only OSHA labeling duties, while other…
Respirators for contractors and business visitors
A company asked who had respiratory-protection duties when contractors or business visitors needed respirators at its plant. OSHA said each worker's employer was responsible for its own employees,…
Hazard determination in a paint-labeling guide
A paint industry association submitted a health-effects labeling guide for OSHA review. OSHA said the guide could help employers make hazard determinations, but compliance would still depend on the…
Representative asbestos exposure monitoring in construction
An asbestos contractor asked how many employee samples were needed for representative monitoring. OSHA said the rule set no universal number; employers could sample everyone or employees reasonably…
Interim enforcement of bloodborne disease hazards
OSHA gave regional staff interim guidance for complaints about healthcare workers’ exposure to AIDS, hepatitis B, and other bloodborne diseases. It told staff to consider existing protective…
Responsibility for material safety data sheet accuracy
OSHA addressed whether downstream users could be cited for inaccuracies or omissions in material safety data sheets. It said only the manufacturer or importer that prepared or obtained the sheet was…
Chromium in photocopier toner and hazard communication
A company asked whether a competitor's photocopier toner containing chromium needed hazard warnings. OSHA had not completed its investigation, but said that if the toner contained hexavalent…
Horns and reverse alarms on construction equipment
A contractors' association asked about horns and backup alarms on construction equipment. OSHA said bidirectional machines needed an operable horn sounded as needed, and discussed separate…
Steel coils and the hazard communication article exemption
A steel producer asked whether coils qualified as exempt articles and how to fill in OSHA's material safety data sheet form. OSHA said article status depended on foreseeable downstream chemical…
Roof perimeter protection and powered platform inspections
An engineer asked whether older buildings needed roof perimeter protection and whether rarely used powered platforms needed inspection every 30 days. OSHA said the fall protection rules applied to…
Access ladders for tubular metal scaffolds
A regional administrator asked how ladder rules applied to access for tubular metal scaffolds. OSHA said a properly attached portable metal ladder could reach a 100-foot scaffold platform without…
Assigning safe working loads to ship cargo gear
OSHA addressed how its maritime cargo-gear rules should be applied when ship gear is used in union purchase. It directed field staff to refrain from calculating stresses or assigning safe working…
Formaldehyde cancer warnings before final rulemaking
A formaldehyde industry group asked OSHA to delay cancer-warning enforcement while a formaldehyde rule was pending. OSHA declined, saying existing evidence of human carcinogenicity already required…
Lead medical examinations and employee choice
A member of Congress asked whether an employer could require a worker to take a lead-related medical exam. OSHA said its standard required the employer to make an exam available at no cost, while…
Internal controls and risk analysis for state UI agencies
ETA revised its policy and guidance for state unemployment agencies on internal controls and risk analysis and rescinded UIPL 11-83. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Radial-arm saw barrier guard conditions
OSHA field offices asked about an adjustable barrier guard on radial-arm saws. OSHA said the guard had to be positioned before each cut and fitted with side shields to prevent blade exposure. Used…
Mercury thermometer spill claims in an advertisement
OSHA responded to a thermometer advertisement that described strict spill-cleanup steps as OSHA requirements. OSHA said its mercury exposure standard did not prescribe cleanup procedures for glass…
Target-organ warnings on hazardous chemical labels
A lawyer asked whether hazard warnings on shipped chemical containers had to address target-organ effects. OSHA pointed to the standard's health-hazard definition, Appendix A and the rulemaking…
Hazardous-waste site training coverage
An environmental services company asked when hazardous-waste operations training applied to its work. OSHA said the training requirements applied if the work was at a covered cleanup or removal site…
Shoe-industry cancer listings and chemical labels
A business asked whether an IARC listing of boot and shoe manufacturing as associated with cancer meant all products needed carcinogen labels. OSHA said it listed the industry for inspector…
Fall protection at open second floors in housing construction
An OSHA regional office asked how to enforce fall protection at a fully decked, open-sided second floor during housing construction. OSHA said contractors usually erect the exterior partition first,…
Numerical hazard-label systems under hazard communication
A manufacturer asked whether OSHA endorsed an industry hazard-labeling system. OSHA said it endorsed no product, but clarified that systems using numerical severity ratings could be used if the…
Coverage of independent religious organizations
ETA interpreted FUTA coverage of religious organizations that are not affiliated with a church, convention, or association of churches. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Vantage Healthcare employee health plan status
EBSA said Vantage Healthcare’s employee health and dental plan was an ERISA welfare plan and, based on the requester’s representation that only Vantage employees participated, said it did not appear…
UCX eligibility for separated Air Force personnel
ETA gave states instructions for unemployment compensation eligibility determinations involving Air Force members separated after four or six years of service. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Surgical laser program and OSHA standards
A health center asked OSHA about standards for a planned surgical laser program. OSHA said it had not issued specific criteria for employee laser use at that time, and pointed to an ANSI…
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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.