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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Historical injury logging during a commute home
A company asked whether an injury after a worker left its parking lot on the normal commute home belonged on the former OSHA Log 200. OSHA said the normal commute was not work related under its…
HAZWOPER training for hospital decontamination staff
A hospital asked what training nurses and other staff needed when receiving contaminated hazardous-waste-site patients. OSHA said roles determine training: designated hospital staff operating…
Assigned first-aid staff under the bloodborne pathogens rule
A consultant asked about first-aid employees assigned in manufacturing and construction workplaces. OSHA said workers trained in first aid and designated to provide medical assistance as a job duty…
Procedures for release of 1991 unemployment insurance quality-control data
ETA told state unemployment agencies to freeze their 1991 benefits quality-control data on April 24, reconcile draft annual reports, and release their results by June 26, 1992. The letter and…
Site characterization and HAZWOPER training at a cleanup site
An OSHA regional office asked whether HAZWOPER applied at a Superfund cleanup site based on soil samples and exposure modeling. OSHA said employers must characterize the site continuously and…
Towing crews as skilled support at hazardous-material emergencies
Arizona public-safety staff asked how towing employees fit into HAZWOPER emergency response. OSHA said a crew called temporarily for equipment skills could receive an incident briefing as skilled…
Sample bloodborne pathogens exposure control plan
OSHA circulated a sample exposure control plan to help employers prepare the plan required by its bloodborne pathogens standard. The model covers job and task exposure, controls, protective…
Hydrogen chloride entries in the process-safety list
A chemical company asked why two names in OSHA's process-safety Appendix A shared the same CAS number. OSHA said hydrogen chloride gas and its liquefied anhydrous form were the same substance,…
Government identification of hazardous-waste cleanup sites
An environmental-services company asked what government recognition made a cleanup site subject to HAZWOPER. OSHA said a site could qualify when an agency acknowledged it in writing or would do so…
Northern Wisconsin schools health trust as governmental
A Wisconsin school association asked whether its employee health trust was excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA said the member districts and cooperative educational service agencies were governmental…
Colorado Franciscan health pension as a church plan
A requester asked whether a Franciscan health corporation's employee retirement plan was a church plan. EBSA relied on the represented joint control by the Order and the Sisters of Charity of…
Training for corporate hazardous-material response teams
An oil company asked which members of its emergency-response assistance team needed HAZWOPER training. OSHA said team members who took charge or entered hazardous areas needed training for their…
Trench water, access, rescue and protective systems
A utility-contractors group asked OSHA twelve excavation questions about water, access, rescue gear, protective systems, inspections, and soil testing. OSHA explained that precautions depend on…
Eating and drinking areas under the bloodborne pathogens rule
A physician asked whether OSHA's bloodborne pathogens rule barred food and drink throughout an office. OSHA said the ban applies in areas where workers may be exposed to blood or other potentially…
OSHA construction standards for single-family homes
A member of Congress asked whether federal construction safety rules exempted single-family homes. OSHA said they did not: the construction standards adopted under the Occupational Safety and Health…
Injury and illness logs, hearing shifts, and medical treatment
An automaker asked OSHA 20 questions about injury and illness logs, including separate establishments, updating entries, hearing shifts, cumulative trauma, and medical treatment. OSHA explained how…
Maritime accreditor status and California crane certification
OSHA's Region IX asked about firms using federal maritime cargo-gear accreditation to qualify under California's crane program. OSHA said California could strengthen its own qualification rules,…
When trench soil classification tests are required
A construction safety council asked when soil classification tests were needed for excavation protection. OSHA said tests were unnecessary for trenches no deeper than 20 feet sloped at the cited…
HAZWOPER training and OSHA jurisdiction for oil-spill teams
An overseas oil-spill response group asked whether OSHA could preapprove its training before U.S. work. OSHA said it did not approve employer programs; employers must train and certify responders at…
Handbook for Interstate Claimstaking - Issuance of Interstate Continued Claim, Form IB-2 by Agent States
ETA explained that liable states could choose whether agent states issue two continued interstate claim forms or none to a claimant filing an interstate initial claim. It asked state agencies to…
Accreditation of HAZWOPER refresher training
A training provider asked whether OSHA's proposed accreditation rule covered the annual eight-hour refresher course for hazardous-waste workers. OSHA said the proposal did not require…
Scaffold guardrail design and OSHA product review
A masonry association asked OSHA to review a scaffold guardrail design. OSHA said it does not endorse products, since jobsite conditions and installation affect safety. Based on the supplied design…
Definition of 'Work' for Purposes of Section 3304(a)(7) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act
ETA interpreted the federal rule that a person must perform work after the start of one benefit year to qualify for compensation in a second year. It said bona fide paid services can include…
Limits on crane-suspended personnel platforms
A contractor asked when a crane-suspended platform could be used to lift workers. Clarifying an earlier reply, OSHA said employee safety rather than convenience must control the choice, and each…
Lockout devices used for other purposes
An OSHA regional office asked whether an employee could use the same lock for lockout and for tool boxes. OSHA said using a lockout device for another purpose violated the cited standard. The memo…
OSHA hazard communication jurisdiction at mines
After a citation at a sand and gravel operation, OSHA reminded regional staff that its hazard communication rule did not apply to mine operations under MSHA jurisdiction, including material safety…
Flange requirements for Type 27 abrasive wheels
A tool company asked how OSHA's flange rules applied to four-inch Type 27 grinding wheels. OSHA explained the general one-third-diameter rule, the exception for an adapter nut, and how its…
Handling an overloaded inbound shipping container
A marine terminal asked how to handle an overloaded inbound container that blocked discharge of other containers. OSHA said it would treat the described situation as an emergency and allow hoisting…
Laminated veneer lumber used for scaffold planks
A lumber company asked whether laminated veneer lumber could serve as scaffold planking. OSHA said its instruction allowed laminated planks instead of solid-sawn lumber when engineering data showed…
Butterfly dressings and OSHA injury recordkeeping
An employer asked whether injuries treated with butterfly dressings or adhesive wound-closure strips had to be recorded. OSHA said wound closures counted as medical treatment under its then-current…
Pencil entries and corrections on OSHA injury logs
An employer asked whether it could use pencil and correction fluid on OSHA's injury and illness log. OSHA said either was acceptable under its then-current rules if the records remained legible,…
Crane certification for unloading grain vessels
A correspondent asked whether a crane unloading grain from a ship or barge needed certification by an OSHA-accredited agency. OSHA said that cargo-handling equipment used in longshoring operations…
OSHA injury logs for workers covered by longshore benefits
A boat shop asked whether workers covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act still had to appear on OSHA injury records. OSHA said that coverage did not eliminate its…
Further EUC questions on eligibility, work search and administration
ETA provided another set of answers for state agencies administering the 1991 emergency unemployment compensation program. It addressed reachback and exhaustion rules, work-search requirements,…
Pension investments in a manager’s small-float fund
An investment manager proposed a small-float stock partnership in which its pension clients could invest. EBSA said some management services and fees could fall within a services exemption if its…
Alliance leasing company health trust as a MEWA
South Carolina regulators asked whether a staff leasing company’s health trust was one employer plan. EBSA found some client firms retained actual employer control over covered workers, so the trust…
Cardiovascular risk and crane-suspended work platforms
An OSHA regional office asked when cardiovascular strain from climbing could justify a crane-suspended personnel platform. OSHA said the decision required an individual medical assessment and…
Scaffold plank tables and proposed performance rules
An engineer urged OSHA to update scaffold plank strength values and check actual plank sizes in inspections. OSHA said it had forwarded the suggestions to rulemaking and field staff and described a…
HAZWOPER training at a monitored low-risk site
An employer asked about training for workers in a well-characterized part of a hazardous-waste site with little exposure risk. OSHA said HAZWOPER could be inapplicable where monitoring showed no…
HAZWOPER training for marine oil-spill responders
A marine spill-response company asked OSHA to review its HAZWOPER training plan for emergency response, shoreline cleanup, instructors, and annual refreshers. OSHA said training must match each…
Injury-log duties for leased employees
An employee-leasing group asked who kept injury and illness logs for workers placed with client businesses. OSHA said the company directly supervising day-to-day work bore the recordkeeping duty,…
HAZWOPER training for workers and visitors outside hot zones
A safety company asked about workers and delivery visitors who stay outside contaminated areas of a hazardous-waste cleanup site. OSHA said HAZWOPER training was not required where monitoring showed…
Qualifications for HAZWOPER trainers
An employer asked what credentials and experience qualify someone to teach HAZWOPER courses. OSHA said trainers must know the subjects they teach and demonstrate suitable training, academic…
Safety coverage for volunteer hazardous-material responders
A volunteer emergency medical technician asked which safety rules covered hazardous-material response work. OSHA said federal OSHA generally did not cover uncompensated volunteers, while Tennessee's…
Testing ground-fault circuit interrupters at construction sites
A construction company asked how often and how to test ground-fault circuit interrupters at job sites. OSHA said the cited GFCI rule did not itself require testing, but a separate construction rule…
Homefurnishings association health trust as a MEWA
A requester asked whether a homefurnishings manufacturers association trust was a multiple employer welfare arrangement. EBSA said coverage of unrelated member employers' workers made it a MEWA, and…
Steel erection fall protection below 25 feet
An OSHA region asked for a national policy on fall protection during steel erection. OSHA said that, under its then-current view of Review Commission cases, the general duty clause was the citation…
Ironworker fall protection during beam and column connection
An OSHA regional administrator forwarded questions about unprotected ironworkers connecting beams and columns. OSHA said its then-current view was that, apart from 1926.105(a), no specific fall…
Hazard communication for chromium-containing respirator cartridges
An OSHA regional office asked whether makers of acid-gas respirator cartridges containing hexavalent chromium had to issue hazard warnings and material safety data sheets. Based on testing then…
Documentation of oil-spill responder HAZWOPER training
An oil-spill response organization asked how OSHA treated responder training and certification. OSHA said it did not then approve training programs or certify individuals; employers had to document…
Wire-rope inspection intervals and de minimis violations
A shipbuilder asked whether inspecting lifting-equipment wire rope under a newer ANSI standard met OSHA's monthly inspection rule. OSHA said a procedure offering equivalent worker protection could…
Average Weekly Benefit Amount (AWBA) for Major Disasters that Occur During the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 1992 (January 1 through March 31, 1992)
ETA directed states to use the attached average weekly benefit amounts when calculating disaster unemployment assistance for major disasters in January through March 1992. It said states should…
Steel erection fall protection and temporary floors
A construction safety manager asked about fall protection during steel erection, including temporary floors, nets, and lanyards. OSHA answered under its then-current Subpart R approach. Its later…
Testing and inspection of construction ground fault circuit interrupters
A construction company asked about testing ground fault circuit interrupters at jobsites. OSHA said 1926.404(b)(1) did not itself require GFCI testing, while another rule required frequent and…
Coast Guard and OSHA authority at marine terminals
An OSHA regional office asked which agency regulated a refinery's marine docks. OSHA said Coast Guard rules could displace its authority over specified bulk loading, transfer, and storage work,…
Lowering workers into drilled piers with cranes
An OSHA regional office asked when a crane could lower a worker into a drilled pier. OSHA said a boatswain chair on suitable A-frame equipment could be used if applicable rules were met; where that…
The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-164)—Provisions Amending the Federal Unemployment Tax Act
ETA explained two Federal Unemployment Tax Act amendments in the 1991 emergency unemployment law. States could choose whether to deny benefits between or within school terms for nonprofessional…
Action Staffing health program as a MEWA
A requester asked whether Action Staffing's self-funded health program was a MEWA. EBSA found that in at least one instance a client, rather than Action, retained and exercised employer authority…
Advantage leasing health program as a MEWA
A requester asked whether an employee leasing company's health program covered only the leasing firm's workers. EBSA found that at least one client retained and exercised employer control over…
Revised List of Annual Salary Rates for General Schedule (GS) and Senior Executive Service (SES) Employees
ETA told state unemployment agencies to give the 1992 General Schedule and Senior Executive Service pay tables to staff completing Form ES-935 for federal civilian workers claiming unemployment…
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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.