Washington — OSHA has published information clarifying its jurisdiction related to State Plan programs in Puerto Rico and Maryland.
In a notice published April 24, OSHA announces the revision of the Puerto Rico State Plan’s operational status agreement, or OSA, initially signed in 1981. The process for the change began with an April 4 letter to OSHA from Puerto Rico’s Assistant Secretary of Labor Nelvin Rodriguez-Sanchez.
In his letter, Rodriguez-Sanchez wrote that PR OSHA lacks the resources to investigate private-sector employees performing work in the following circumstances:
- On land, property or space that the federal government owns or leases where federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties
- At federal government-owned contractor-operated sites
- On federal property under construction
- Marine construction performed by private-sector employees
“Under the existing OSA, federal OSHA only had coverage of enforcement related to contractors or subcontractors on federal establishments when the State Plan could not obtain entry, and federal OSHA did not have coverage over marine construction conducted by private-sector employers,” the agency says.
During a review of the OSA, federal OSHA determined that other clarifications and revisions were required. Among them:
- Federal OSHA has enforcement authority over private-sector employers at U.S. military installations, while PR OSHA has authority over state and local government employees at those installations.
- Federal OSHA has coverage over federal government employees, including U.S. Postal Service employees and contractors.
- Federal OSHA “covers all working conditions of aircraft cabin crewmembers onboard aircraft in operation.”
The new OSA features a provision stating that federal OSHA “can exercise its authority to inspect and take appropriate enforcement action at an entire project or facility where federal and State Plan authorities both have enforcement authority in the interest of administrative practicability.”
Likewise, in another notice published April 27 regarding the Maryland State Plan program, OSHA says it has jurisdiction over private-sector employees:
- On land or property owned or leased by the federal government where federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties.
- At federally owned contractor-operated sites.
- On federal property under construction.
“Both Maryland OSHA and federal OSHA believe this is the best way to ensure prompt and effective protection of such private-sector workers,” the notice states.
