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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Pole-top rescue training and protective apparel
A utility union asked whether both workers on a two-person crew needed pole-top rescue training, including during nonenergized work, and whether short sleeves were barred. OSHA said both workers…
Using industry guidance for process-safety mechanical integrity
A chemical company asked whether an industry standard could help identify controls subject to OSHA's process safety mechanical-integrity requirements. OSHA said outside guidance could be used to…
Voluntary disposable respirators without expected overexposure
A state safety official asked about employees wearing disposable dust respirators when chemical overexposure did not exist or was not expected. OSHA said the respiratory-protection standard was not…
Using prior asbestos monitoring for a negative exposure assessment
A consultant asked when air monitoring from an earlier asbestos job could establish a negative exposure assessment for a new job. OSHA confirmed that the workplaces must closely resemble each other…
FMLA coverage of religious institutions
WHD considered whether a church and its pregnancy-leave policy were covered by the FMLA. It said religious institutions are not categorically excluded, but coverage depends on the employee threshold…
Benzene-standard exemption for oil and gas operations
A consultant asked whether oil and gas drilling, production, and servicing operations were exempt from OSHA's benzene standard. OSHA confirmed the exemption, but said running crude oil through a…
Construction branch circuits and extension cords
A construction equipment company asked whether extension cords and lighting strings counted as branch circuits under temporary-wiring rules. OSHA said they generally served as temporary…
Inspection-targeting letters and advance notice
A congressional office asked about a Dallas pilot that used voluntary injury data to target inspections and whether its employer letters gave unlawful advance notice. OSHA said the letters went to…
Material safety data sheet format and coverage
A healthcare employer asked OSHA to standardize the layout of material safety data sheets so emergency details would be easier to find. OSHA replied that its hazard communication standard required…
WHD response to concerns about the FMLA final rule
WHD answered objections to its 1995 FMLA regulations concerning chronic conditions, medical recertification, paid-leave substitution, light duty, physician contact, and employee notice. It…
Airline pilot severance arrangement and ERISA plan status
An airline asked whether a lump-sum severance plan for pilots involuntarily losing flight eligibility was an ERISA welfare plan rather than a pension plan. EBSA said its terms may meet the severance…
Private ambulance workers in Minnesota governmental pension plan
Minnesota asked whether its public defined contribution plan could cover employees of private ambulance services and remain a governmental plan. EBSA said the plan was governmental as then operated,…
PSM coverage for manufacturing explosive perforation guns
OSHA answered a regional office's questions about the process safety management rule at sites assembling explosive perforation guns for oil and gas work. It agreed that offsite manufacturing was…
Employee access to the OSHA 200 injury log
A union asked whether workers and their representatives could inspect the entire OSHA 200 injury and illness log. OSHA said the then-current rule gave access to the full log, including names, and…
PSM coverage of interconnected flammable-liquid processes
An employers' association asked whether three flammable-liquid layouts were covered by process safety management requirements. OSHA said a hose connection and transfer controls did not by themselves…
Scaffold fall protection, falling objects, and mobile bases
A construction-safety program asked about fall protection, protection from objects falling off scaffolds, and the base ratio for mobile scaffolds. OSHA explained that the rules then in force…
Electrical transmission rules and communication towers
A steel erector asked whether the construction rules for electric power transmission and distribution applied to radio, television, and communication towers. OSHA said those rules did not cover such…
Fall protection during sheet-piling work
A contractor asked whether OSHA's new fall-protection rule changed earlier guidance for workers on pile-driver leads and sheet piling. OSHA said the earlier directive was inadvertently superseded…
Hand-washing facilities in a medical examination room
A physician asked whether a room used only for procedures without any possible bodily-fluid contact needed hand-washing facilities inside it. OSHA said the cited bloodborne-pathogens rule did not…
Asbestos signs, custodial tasks, and HEPA vacuuming
An employer asked when asbestos signs or labels were needed, whether certain custodial tasks fell under construction rules, and when HEPA vacuuming was required. OSHA described its then-current sign…
Mechanical tile-removal equipment under asbestos rules
An equipment company asked whether its floor-tile removal machine was a mechanical chipping device under the construction asbestos standard. OSHA said the answer depended on how it was used and…
Aerial lifts, forklift platforms, and construction fall protection
An equipment supplier asked which construction fall-protection rules applied to ANSI A92 equipment and to suspended or improvised forklift platforms. OSHA said Subpart M did not apply to that…
Firefighter staffing for interior structural fires
A fire-safety specialist asked how OSHA's immediately-dangerous-atmosphere interpretation applied to fire crews. OSHA said an interior structural fire generally required at least two firefighters…
Successive FMLA leave periods after childbirth
WHD considered whether an employee could use more than 12 consecutive weeks of FMLA leave after childbirth. It said the answer depends on the employer's method for measuring the 12-month leave…
Confined-space classification and entry into elevator pits
Elevator companies asked whether elevator pits count as confined spaces and when workers need a permit-space entry process. OSHA said pits generally meet the confined-space definition and often…
Permit-space classification of varied work locations
A consultant asked how the permit-required confined-space standard applied to eight kinds of spaces and entry situations. OSHA explained that classification depended on each space's design and…
FMLA leave to care for a sibling
WHD considered an employee who took time off to care for a sister with a serious health condition. It said the FMLA's family-care provision did not cover siblings and therefore did not appear to…
Flammable-liquid blending and connected process vessels
A process-safety consultant asked whether blending without a chemical reaction, connected storage, and a removable pipe section affected process safety management coverage. OSHA said a chemical…
Fall protection for post-frame construction
A builders' association requested an exemption from the construction fall-protection rule because post-frame work resembled steel erection. OSHA said the standard applied unless another construction…
Protective gloves and latex allergy under bloodborne-pathogens rule
A senator asked how OSHA's bloodborne-pathogens glove requirement addressed latex allergy among healthcare workers. OSHA said employers had to provide protective gloves without charge when…
Ozone-resistance testing of rubber electrical equipment
A utility asked whether employers had to certify ozone-resistance tests for rubber electrical protective equipment. OSHA said ozone-resistance testing was a manufacturing requirement, while the…
Operations-level response to hazardous substance releases
A utility asked whether operations-level emergency responders could enter a hazardous release area and what backup was needed. OSHA said they generally acted defensively outside the danger area;…
Training, grounding, and fall protection for electric utility work
An electric utility asked thirteen questions about proof of worker training, qualified employees, solo work, lockout training, fall protection, electrical contact, grounding, and related safety…
Recording injuries of supervised contract workers
OSHA explained which firm should record injuries to contract workers under the injury-log system then in force. It said day-to-day supervision was the primary factor: the using firm recorded a…
Preparation for Revenue Quality Control implementation
ETA directed state unemployment agencies to finish preparing for mandatory Revenue Quality Control reviews beginning in 1996. It called for correct Form ETA 581 data, complete and tested employer…
Plan participation in settlement with investment service providers
A requester asked whether plans could join a class settlement with investment service providers without a prohibited transaction. EBSA said a settlement with a continuing party in interest could be…
First aid and recordability of removing embedded objects
An employer asked about deciding whether an injury was recordable and whether removing an embedded object counted as medical treatment. OSHA said the employer had to evaluate work relationship and…
Reporting road-work fatalities and hospitalizations
A trucking association asked about work-related fatalities and hospitalizations during over-the-road operations. OSHA said Department of Transportation reporting did not replace OSHA's separate…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance by state, October–December 1995
ETA directed state unemployment agencies to use an attached table of minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from October through December 1995. The table…
Review of a mechanical power press variance application
OSHA staff reviewed a company’s proposed alternative procedure for a mechanical power press and said the record did not yet show equivalent worker protection. The memo listed studies, manufacturer…
Temporary electrical wiring for experimental research
A research laboratory asked whether experimental projects could use flexible temporary wiring for more than 90 days and who could install it. OSHA said the cited 90-day limit did not apply to…
Wood-dust carcinogenicity on safety data sheets
A wood-products manufacturer asked when wood dust had to be identified as carcinogenic on material safety data sheets. OSHA said sheets for hardwood and mixed hardwood-softwood products needed that…
NIOSH IDLH values and OSHA respirator selection
A safety-equipment company asked whether revised NIOSH values for immediately dangerous atmospheres were binding OSHA limits. OSHA said NIOSH recommendations were not themselves regulatory…
Interpreting an eight-hour permissible exposure limit
An industrial hygienist asked whether an eight-hour permissible exposure limit allowed occasional days above the stated level. OSHA said it was a limit for any eight-hour shift and that personal…
Older chemical purchases and material safety data sheets
A conservator asked whether a laboratory had to supply material safety data sheets for chemicals bought before the hazard communication rule took effect. OSHA said manufacturing employers had no…
Welding rods and the hazard-communication article exemption
A state safety agency asked whether welding rods were exempt from OSHA's hazard communication rule as articles or consumer products. OSHA said rods emit significant hazardous fumes during normal use…
Approval of training for out-of-state unemployment claimants
ETA told states that an unemployment claimant's training cannot be denied approval solely because the training takes place in another state. A state may apply its normal training criteria, but it…
Legal authority of unemployment insurance program letters
ETA explained its view that unemployment program letters communicate official interpretations of existing federal requirements and that qualifying interpretive rules are exempt from…
Los Angeles police relief benefit plans as governmental plans
A police relief association asked whether its medical and dental arrangements were governmental plans excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA said they were, given substantial city police funding,…
Solvent spray during asbestos brake repair
A senator asked whether a solvent spray could adequately control asbestos dust while technicians removed stubborn brake drums. OSHA said its corrected rule treated the spray-can method as equivalent…
Secondary adjustments to employer experience rates
ETA explained which secondary adjustments may be used when states calculate reduced unemployment contribution rates for employers. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Priority of withholding from unemployment benefits
ETA addressed what happens when required deductions and a claimant's voluntary income-tax withholding compete for the same unemployment payment. It said amounts required by state law must come…
Sampling hydrogen sulfide ceiling and peak exposures
A fiber plant asked whether ten-minute sampling alone was enough to assess hydrogen sulfide exposure. OSHA explained that the cited rule controlled both a ceiling concentration and a short permitted…
Lockout and tagout during vehicle maintenance
An insurer asked when lockout and tagout rules applied to servicing tractors, combines, backhoes, and other vehicles. OSHA said the answer depended on the work and the risk of unexpected startup or…
Fall protection while climbing rebar assemblies and formwork
A reinforcing-steel group asked whether ironworkers could climb concrete rebar assemblies without tying off. OSHA said its then-current interpretation allowed movement on rebar assemblies built in…
Rebar and formwork fall protection while moving between positions
An OSHA regional office raised concerns about workers moving on rebar without fall protection. OSHA said its then-current interpretation allowed movement on rebar assemblies built in place up to 24…
Fall-protection plans for residential framing work
An OSHA regional office asked whether builders could use fall-protection plans for certain framing tasks and across multiple similar home sites. OSHA said walking an interior wall sill between…
Seat belts and rollover protection on rotating excavators
A safety consultant asked whether older rotating excavators needed seat belts because their booms might act as rollover stops. OSHA said rotating-housing excavators were outside the cited tractor…
Guardrail posts and a proposed fall-protection product
A steel fabricator asked OSHA to review a fall-protection product and a guardrail-post design. OSHA said it did not approve products generally but the described product appeared compliant if used as…
Side D-rings on safety belts for fall arrest
A belt manufacturer asked whether side D-rings could still be used for personal fall arrest under OSHA's 1995 construction rule. OSHA said side D-rings were acceptable for work positioning but not…
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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.