OSHA protects most private sector employees in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories.1United States Department of Labor. About OSHA Federal workers are covered through their own agency programs, and state and local government workers are covered only where a state has adopted an OSHA-approved plan. The question of who OSHA protects also has a flip side: several groups sit entirely outside its reach, including the self-employed, some family farm workers, domestic workers in private homes, unpaid volunteers, and workers whose safety is already regulated by another federal agency.
Private Sector Workers
If you work for a private employer in the United States, you are almost certainly covered. The Occupational Safety and Health Act reaches the vast majority of private sector employers and their employees, whether the state you work in is under direct federal OSHA jurisdiction or runs its own OSHA-approved program.2U.S. Department of Labor. Safety and Health Standards: Occupational Safety and Health OSHA’s standards are organized into four industry groups: general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture.1United States Department of Labor. About OSHA
At the heart of that protection is the general duty clause. Every covered employer must provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Employees have a corresponding duty to follow the OSHA rules that apply to their own conduct.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 654 – Duties of Employers and Employees
Temporary and Staffing-Agency Workers
Temporary workers get the same protections as permanent employees. The staffing agency and the business using the worker (the host employer) are treated as joint employers and share responsibility for a safe workplace. In practice, the staffing agency usually handles general safety training while the host employer covers site- and equipment-specific hazards. Staffing agencies cannot claim ignorance of conditions at a client’s facility; they have a duty to check the safety of workplaces where they send workers.4Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Protecting Temporary Workers
Independent Contractors
Whether you count as a protected employee or an independent contractor outside OSHA’s reach turns on how much control the hiring party keeps over the work. OSHA applies a common-law test that weighs several factors: who supplies the tools, where the work is done, how long the relationship lasts, how payment is made, and whether the worker sets their own schedule.5Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Definition of Independent Contractor Versus Employee No single factor decides the question. If the hiring party controls the manner and means of the work, the worker is likely an employee whatever the contract says.
State and Local Government Workers
Public employees who work for a state, county, or municipal government are not covered by federal OSHA.6Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Am I Covered by OSHA? They receive OSH Act protections only if their state has adopted an OSHA-approved state plan. Any state can develop and enforce its own workplace safety program, but the plan must be at least as effective as the federal one to earn approval.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 667 – State Jurisdiction and Plans
Twenty-two state plans currently cover both private and public sector workers, and seven additional plans cover only state and local government workers.8Occupational Safety and Health Administration. State Plans That leaves public employees in the remaining states without OSH Act coverage. Some of those states have their own workplace safety laws outside the OSHA framework, but the protections can be much narrower.
Federal Employees
Federal workers are covered, but through a different mechanism. Executive Order 12196 requires each agency head to run an occupational safety and health program and appoint an official with the authority to manage it. Those programs must follow the same OSHA standards that apply to private industry unless the agency gets approval to use an alternative that provides equal or greater protection.9National Archives. Executive Order 12196
The important difference is enforcement. OSHA cannot fine another federal agency. When inspectors find a hazard at a federal workplace, they issue a Notice of Unsafe or Unhealthful Working Conditions instead of a monetary citation, and the agency must submit a plan and progress reports to fix the problem. The U.S. Postal Service is the exception among federal employers; the OSH Act’s definition of “employer” excludes the federal government except for the Postal Service.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 652 – Definitions
Workers OSHA Does Not Cover
Several groups sit entirely outside OSHA’s jurisdiction:
- Self-employed individuals with no employees. OSHA has no authority over your working conditions, regardless of industry. A self-employed construction worker with no employees is not subject to OSHA requirements.11Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Application of OSHA Requirements to Self-Employed Construction Workers
- Small family farms. Farms that employ only immediate family members are exempt. A congressional appropriations rider also blocks OSHA from conducting enforcement inspections at farms with ten or fewer non-family employees, as long as the farm does not maintain a temporary labor camp.12Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Policy Clarification on OSHA’s Enforcement Authority at Small Farms
- Domestic workers in private homes. Housekeepers, nannies, and other household employees working in a private residence are not covered by OSHA and must look to state labor laws or other remedies for workplace safety protections.
- Volunteers and unpaid workers. The OSH Act only covers employees. Unpaid students, volunteers, and job-shadowing participants at hospitals and other facilities are not employees and fall outside OSHA’s coverage.13Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Coverage Does Not Extend to Unpaid Students
One partial exemption is worth flagging because it can look like an exclusion but is not. Employers with ten or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year are generally exempt from keeping OSHA injury and illness logs unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics tells them in writing to do so.14Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Partial Exemption for Employers with 10 or Fewer Employees That is a recordkeeping exemption only. Those employers are still covered by every other OSHA safety standard and can still be inspected.
Workers Covered by Other Federal Safety Agencies
OSHA also steps back when another federal agency already regulates safety for a particular working condition. Under Section 4(b)(1) of the OSH Act, when another agency exercises authority to set or enforce safety standards for specific conditions, OSHA does not enforce its rules over those same conditions.15Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Field Operations Manual – Chapter 17 – Preemption by Other Agencies The main agencies that take OSHA’s place:
- The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) regulates safety for mining and mineral milling operations. OSHA and MSHA have a memorandum of understanding drawing the line between them.
- The U.S. Coast Guard enforces safety rules for workers aboard inspected vessels on U.S. navigable waters and the high seas. OSHA does not enforce the OSH Act for the working conditions of crew members on those vessels.
- The Federal Aviation Administration has complete and exclusive authority over the safety of flight deck crew members while an aircraft is in operation. For other workers on aircraft in operation, such as flight attendants, the FAA and OSHA coordinate under a joint agreement.16Occupational Safety and Health Administration. MOU Between OSHA and FAA
- Department of Transportation agencies regulate certain safety aspects for transportation workers, particularly vehicle operation and hours of service.
This preemption is not automatic across an entire industry. If the other agency has not issued a specific rule addressing a particular hazard, OSHA may still enforce its own standards for that gap. The test is whether the other agency has actually exercised its authority over the specific working condition, not just whether it has jurisdiction over the industry as a whole.
What OSHA Coverage Actually Gets You
Coverage is worth understanding because it unlocks specific rights. If you are covered and you believe your workplace has a safety or health hazard, you can file a confidential complaint with OSHA online, by phone, by fax, by mail, or in person at a local office. You can also file anonymously. OSHA will evaluate the complaint and may inspect the workplace.17Occupational Safety and Health Administration. File a Complaint
In limited circumstances, covered workers have the right to refuse dangerous work. All of these conditions must be met: you asked your employer to fix the hazard and they did not; you genuinely believe an imminent danger of death or serious injury exists; a reasonable person would agree the danger is real; and there is not enough time to get the hazard corrected through a regular OSHA inspection. Even when refusing work, you should stay at the worksite unless your employer tells you to leave.18Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Workers’ Right to Refuse Dangerous Work
Section 11(c) of the OSH Act makes it illegal for an employer to fire, demote, transfer, or otherwise punish you for exercising your safety rights, whether that means filing a complaint, reporting an injury, or taking part in an OSHA inspection. If you believe your employer retaliated, you must file a complaint with the Department of Labor within 30 days of the adverse action.19Occupational Safety and Health Administration. General Requirements of Section 11(c) of the Act Missing that 30-day window can forfeit the claim, so acting quickly matters.