Federal OSHA Scrutinizing State OSHA Regimes: Arizona and Indiana Recent Examples

Recent federal reviews of both Arizona and Indiana’s state OSHA policies have revealed that both states fall short of federal OSHA standards.

On March 19, federal OSHA sent the Industrial Commission of Arizona a letter advising that Arizona’s standards for protecting residential construction workers from falls were not as effective as federal standards.  The letter cited Arizona’s failure to provide for protection for workers working between 6 and 15 feet whereas in contrast, the federal standard requires fall protection systems at heights of at least 6 feet.  While the letter noted that changes to the standard are currently moving through Arizona’s legislature, it stated that the proposed changes would not adequately address federal OSHA’s concerns and failed to bring Arizona’s standards in line with federal law.  The letter warned that failure to make the necessary changes might result in a resumption of federal coverage for construction.

Similarly, in February, federal OSHA advised the Indiana Department of Labor (via letter) that a year-long audit of Indiana OSHA (IOSHA)’s practices revealed deficiencies in claims handling, protection of whistleblowers, and accuracy of inspector investigations.  federal OSHA reported that many of IOSHA’s practices were not only in violation of IOSHA’s internal practices and procedures, but also of federal practice standards.  In total, federal OSHA made twenty-two recommendations for improvement.  IOSHA, which cooperated with OSHA during the investigation, reported that it was in the process of making the required changes and had already taken steps to comply with implemented twenty of the twenty-two recommendations.  IOSHA’s response to the recommendations can be accessed here.