Federal OSHA authority begins in Hawaii

Washington – Federal OSHA’s authority to enforce regulations concurrently with the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division began Sept. 21.

Hawaii is a State Plan state, but budgetary and staffing restraints have made it unable to effectively oversee occupational safety and health. To help HIOSH strengthen its program, its State Plan status was modified from “final approval” to “initial approval.”

The modification is necessary to grant federal OSHA inspectors legal authority to enforce OSHA regulations. Hawaii maintains its own legal authority and status as a federally approved State Plan state.

Under a set of benchmarks (.pdf file) for HIOSH, the concurrent inspections will be reduced gradually during a multiyear period as HIOSH takes on more responsibilities from federal OSHA.