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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PSM thresholds for mixtures and hazardous waste facilities
A state environmental official asked whether OSHA's process safety rule counted whole mixtures and covered permitted hazardous waste facilities. OSHA said Appendix A thresholds generally referred to…
Bloodborne protection for device representatives in operating rooms
An insurer asked who protected device manufacturer representatives invited into hospital operating rooms. OSHA said exposure duties depended on the workers' employment and actual hazard, while the…
Johnston Industries stock in its employee pensions
Two Johnston Industries pension plans asked whether they could buy company stock under ERISA’s qualifying employer security rules. EBSA found a related corporation’s common ownership, board ties,…
Safety latches on marine terminal crane hooks
An engineering organization asked when marine crane hooks need safety latches. OSHA said the marine terminal rule requires crane hooks to be latched or otherwise secured against accidental load…
Federal OSHA jurisdiction over state prison inmates
A Colorado inmate reported chemical exposure without safety training. OSHA said the federal Act excluded state governments from its employer definition, so federal OSHA had no jurisdiction over that…
Employee alarm signals for emergency plans
An alarm manufacturer asked how OSHA judged systems for workplaces with multiple emergency responses. OSHA said alarm design depended on site hazards and plans, signals had to tell employees what…
Bloodborne pathogens rule and nurse assistant volunteers
A Red Cross chapter asked whether nurse assistant students and volunteers were covered by the bloodborne pathogens rule. OSHA said its federal policy had not treated volunteers as employees, though…
Hepatitis B vaccine policy for collateral-duty first aiders
An employer sought a variance from the bloodborne pathogens rule for designated first aid workers. OSHA said those workers were covered, but its recent policy treated failure to offer pre-exposure…
Biohazard label color and symbol under the bloodborne pathogens standard
A diagnostics company asked whether its biohazard label satisfied OSHA's bloodborne pathogens rule. OSHA said the submitted design appeared consistent with the required contrasting biohazard symbol…
Breast milk and occupational exposure under the bloodborne pathogens rule
A group representing lactation consultants asked whether contact with breast milk counts as occupational exposure under OSHA's bloodborne pathogens rule. OSHA said breast milk is outside the rule's…
Workplace violence and the OSH Act general duty clause
A worker asked whether OSHA standards address violent employee behavior. OSHA said no specific federal OSHA standard addressed it at the time, but the OSH Act's general duty clause could apply where…
Format Used for the Exchange of UCX/UCFE Claims Control Data Between State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) and the Louisiana UCX/UCFE Claims Control Center (LCCC)
ETA instructed state unemployment agencies how to format, transmit, and cancel claims-control inquiries for former service members and federal civilian employees. Its attachments define the…
Bloodborne pathogens requirements for emergency medical services
A member of Congress asked OSHA about bloodborne-pathogens requirements affecting emergency medical services. OSHA said diluted household bleach could be used for specified decontamination,…
Bloodborne pathogen exposure for first aid, cleanup, and hotel housekeeping
A compliance provider asked how OSHA's bloodborne pathogens rule applies to first aiders, cleanup crews and hotel housekeepers. OSHA said workers expected to provide first aid or clean contaminated…
Agreements between the State Employment Security Agencies (SESA) and the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Implementing the Requirements of Section 303(h)(1) of the Social Security Act (SSA)
ETA told state unemployment agencies that federal child support officials wanted to update their data-sharing agreements. It identified proposed changes to the transfer method, frequency, and volume…
Pentane storage and solvent blending under the Process Safety Management rule
A requester asked whether large pentane storage and a solvent blending setup were exempt from OSHA’s Process Safety Management rule. OSHA did not decide either question on the facts supplied. It…
Quality Appraisal Issues: Questions and Answers--Nonmonetary Determinations Promptness, and Emergency Unemployment Compensation
ETA answered state agency questions about when the timeliness clock begins for nonmonetary claim determinations and said Emergency Unemployment Compensation cases should not be used for regular UI…
Process Safety Management coverage of paint manufacturing and blending
A paint industry association asked whether mixing and blending flammable liquids below their boiling points was exempt from the PSM rule. OSHA said the storage and transfer exemption did not cover a…
Withdrawal of UCX and UCFE claims and assignment of federal wages
ETA told state unemployment agencies to apply state rules that permit withdrawal of a regular unemployment claim to claims by former service members and federal civilian employees. Withdrawing the…
California workers compensation enforcement and ERISA
California officials asked whether ERISA blocked enforcement of workers’ compensation requirements against an employee leasing arrangement. EBSA said the state could require a separate workers’…
Bank financial statements for a plan repurchase agreement
A health plan asked whether its bank counterparty could use parent-company financial statements and the bank's Call Report for a repurchase agreement exemption. The bank did not maintain separate…
State UI benefit averages used for 1992 disaster assistance
ETA directed state unemployment agencies to use the attached state average weekly unemployment insurance benefit amounts for disasters occurring October through December 1992. It explained that the…
Hazard communication for PCB-containing light ballasts
A company asked how OSHA's hazard communication standard applies to workers who make, remove or dispose of light ballasts containing PCBs. OSHA said encased PCBs that pose no exposure threat do not…
Implementation of bloodborne pathogens and hazardous waste emergency rules
A member of Congress asked OSHA to postpone its bloodborne pathogens and hazardous waste emergency response rules because of compliance costs. OSHA declined, saying both standards were already in…
First aid response time and near proximity requirements
An employer asked what “in near proximity” means for first aid under 29 CFR 1910.151(b). OSHA said first aid should be available within three to four minutes where life-threatening injuries are…
Lockout training video review and employer program duties
A manufacturer asked OSHA to confirm that its lockout training video complied with the hazardous-energy rule. OSHA declined to certify a video outside a specific workplace. It said employers must…
End of routine tenth-letter inspections after non-formal complaints
OSHA told regional administrators to stop automatically inspecting every tenth employer that gave a satisfactory response to a non-formal complaint. It kept the policy of inspecting when an employer…
Guarding rotary knives used in poultry processing
An OSHA regional office asked how to cite unguarded rotary knives in poultry processing. OSHA said it would not cite the absence of a front flapper guard because it had found that device did not…
Glove use, hepatitis B vaccination costs, and bloodborne pathogen trainers
A correspondent asked about gloves during injections, payment for hepatitis B vaccination, and who can train dental office workers. OSHA said glove use turns on reasonably anticipated contact with…
Counting restricted or lost workdays during personal leave
An employer asked whether personal medical or pregnancy leave interrupted the count of restricted or lost workdays after a work injury. OSHA said days on leave arranged before the injury were…
Injury log for an employee hurt at another company facility
An occupational health nurse asked which company facility should record an injury during an employee's temporary training assignment. OSHA said a recordable case belonged on the log of the…
Recordkeeping exemption for employers with ten or fewer employees
A hospice asked whether its size excused it from OSHA injury and illness logs. OSHA said employers with no more than ten employees during the previous year normally did not have to keep those…
Payment of Interest on Title XII Loans
ETA instructed states on paying interest owed on federal Title XII unemployment loans, including calculation and billing timing, allowable funding sources, and notice of the source of payment. It…
State plan inspection staffing for process safety management
OSHA answered Maryland's questions about process safety inspections under its then-current directive. It said federal OSHA could supply an experienced team leader for certain state inspections, that…
Toe clearance for a hanging manhole ladder
A manufacturer asked whether a hanging manhole ladder design met an exception in a proposed walking surfaces rule. OSHA said its then-current standards had no provision for that design and discussed…
Combined claims accounts and small plan annual reporting
A benefits consultant asked whether small employer welfare plans paying claims through a shared administrator account could skip annual reports. EBSA said the exemption for benefits paid from…
Carcinogen disclosure for acetaldehyde under hazard communication
A member of Congress asked how to reconcile carcinogen classifications for acetaldehyde with an FDA finding that it was safe for use as a flavoring. OSHA said chemical makers and importers had to…
Unemployment Insurance Revenue Quality Control -- Transition to Mandatory Implementation
ETA announced a transition period beginning January 1993 to prepare state agencies for Revenue Quality Control reviews of unemployment tax operations. It described staffing, sampling, systems…
Bloodborne pathogen rule and construction work
A worker asked whether OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard applied to construction. OSHA said it did not apply to construction work as defined in the cited rule, but could apply to covered…
Ground fault protection on construction extension cords and portable tools
A contractor asked whether ground fault circuit interrupters on cords and portable tools eliminate the need for an assured equipment grounding conductor program. OSHA said fully approved GFCI…
Bloodborne pathogen rule for allergists and needle removal
An OSHA regional administrator asked whether allergists doing skin tests were covered by the bloodborne pathogens rule and could remove needles by hand. OSHA said the tests reasonably anticipated…
Laundering personal clothing contaminated with blood
A physician asked whether an employer had to launder an employee's personal clothes after contamination with blood or other potentially infectious material. OSHA said the standard expressly covered…
Hazard communication exemption for regulated hazardous waste
A chemical manufacturer asked which waste containers were exempt from the hazard communication rule. OSHA said a container must meet the cited hazardous waste requirements, including applicable…
Recording lost days, vaccine reactions and medical treatment
A state labor official asked six questions about OSHA injury and illness logs. OSHA explained how a resignation tied to an injury affected estimated lost days, when a later injury became a new case,…
Enforcing temporary labor camp housing standards
The Wage and Hour Division asked how OSHA's temporary labor camp standard should be enforced at short-term tent and trailer sites. OSHA said safety and health conditions such as shelter, water,…
Process safety coverage of natural gas pipelines
A gas industry association asked whether OSHA's process safety rule applied to natural gas transmission and distribution facilities. OSHA said federal pipeline safety regulations then addressed the…
Employer share of split-dollar life policy value
A broker asked whether the cash value in a proposed split-dollar life policy funding employee death benefits belonged to the ERISA plan. EBSA said the employer retained that value and the plan had…
Using ANSI standards under OSHA's general duty clause
A platform manufacturer asked about OSHA's use of ANSI standards while a fall protection rule was under development. OSHA said it could cite consensus standards as evidence of recognized industry…
Stairway rules for scaffold step unit towers
A scaffold maker asked whether OSHA's construction stairway rules applied to scaffold step unit towers. OSHA said those rules applied when the towers provided access somewhere other than a scaffold…
Hazardous substance response training for hospital staff
A physician asked what training hospital employees needed when receiving contaminated emergency patients. OSHA said personnel expected to decontaminate victims needed first responder operations…
HAZWOPER training at voluntary cleanup sites
A utility asked whether its voluntary cleanup sites and employees who did not perform cleanup fell under HAZWOPER. OSHA said a state consent order recognized the sites for purposes of the rule, even…
Sharps containers for self-sheathing needles
A medical device company asked OSHA to allow used self-sheathing needles in ordinary municipal waste. OSHA said states controlled the final disposal method, but its workplace safety rule still…
Bloodborne pathogen rule and health care inspection priorities
A senator asked about the bloodborne pathogens rule's effect on health care employers and OSHA's inspection plans. OSHA said employers had to protect workers against occupational exposure and…
Use of elbow splints under a meatpacking ergonomics settlement
An OSHA regional office asked how a specific meatpacking company's ergonomics settlement treated elbow splints. OSHA said an authorized treating physician who knew the company's program had to…
Retail facility exemption under the process safety rule
A company asked whether its sales to end users made it a retail facility exempt from the process safety management rule. OSHA said the information supplied did not establish a company-wide…
Bloodborne pathogen coverage for electric cooperative first aid
An attorney asked whether electric cooperative field crews were covered by OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard. OSHA said workers designated to give first aid could reasonably anticipate exposure…
Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Optional Initial Claims
ETA explained how state unemployment agencies should count initial claims when people could choose Emergency Unemployment Compensation instead of a new regular unemployment claim. Its examples…
DOT infectious substance labels on medical waste containers
A waste industry group asked whether DOT infectious substance labels could replace OSHA biohazard labels on outer containers during transport. OSHA said it would accept DOT labels where DOT required…
Bloodborne pathogen rule for drilling crew first aid
A drilling company asked whether the bloodborne pathogens standard covered supervisors trained in first aid and CPR. OSHA said coverage turned on reasonably anticipated contact with blood during…
Disinfectant standard for dental work surfaces
A product maker asked whether its disinfectant met OSHA's criteria for cleaning blood-contaminated work surfaces in dental facilities. OSHA said its then-current enforcement policy treated…
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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.