Applicable Regulations

The United States Department of Labor, through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), provides regulations that are applicable to all U.S. workers not otherwise covered under an OSHA-certified state plan. There are 28 state plans sanctioned by OSHA. A state plan may be different or more stringent than the OSHA regulations, but to be approved, the state plan standards must be at least as strict as the federal OSHA regulations.

Since 1977, California has had an OSHA-certified state plan. This plan, commonly referred to as 'Cal/OSHA,' is administered by the California Department of Industrial Relations through the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). Cal/OSHA covers all private sector workplaces, state government, and local government workplaces in the state. Only employees of the federal government and offshore maritime workers are exempt from Cal/OSHA. These workers are covered under the federal OSHA plan.

The requirements for the Cal/OSHA process safety management standard can be found in the California Code of Regulations Title 8 Section 5189, abbreviated as 8 CCR 5189. These requirements are at least as strict as the federal OSHA regulations from which they were derived, 29 CFR 1910.119.

To learn more about Process Safety Management visit our Cal/OSHA Process Safety Management Online Training web page.