Illinois: OSHA proposes approval of Illinois state public employee protection plan

Officials for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced their support for a new Illinois state public employee protection plan.

Illinois has applied for approval to develop a public employee-only occupational safety and health program to be administered by the Illinois Department of Labor. OSHA's announcement in the Federal Register provides for a period of public comment and offers an opportunity to request an informal hearing.

If the plan is approved, Illinois will become the fourth state -- along with Connecticut, New Jersey and New York -- to operate a safety and health program specifically for public employees. The Virgin Islands also operates a public employee safety and health program. An additional 21 states and Puerto Rico have programs that cover both public and private sector workplaces.

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The plan, if approved, will cover more than 1 million public workers, including approximately 161,200 state government workers and roughly 690,000 municipal workers, along with workers in the public education sector. Private sector workers will remain under the jurisdiction of federal OSHA.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 allows states and territories to establish plans that cover only state and local government employees, who are excluded from federal coverage. Once a state plan is approved, federal OSHA funds up to 50 percent of the program's operating costs. To be eligible for initial approval as a public employee-only state plan, a state must be able to operate an occupational safety and health program that is, or will be, at least as effective as the federal program.

ASSE applauds move. C. Christopher Patton, president of the American Society of Safety Engineers, said achieving occupational safety and health protections for all public sector workers has been a goal of the organization. The ASSE, he said, has supported federal legislation to remove this loophole in the OSH Act, a provision which is included in the Protecting America's Workers Act of 2009, which is being debated in the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

Read more at the WORKERSCOMP Forum^TM homepage.

September 10, 2009

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