Minnesota’s official “State Plan” is executed by the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MNOSHA), which the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry administers.
The Minnesota State Plan applies to both state and municipal government employees as well as workplaces in the State’s private sector, with the following exceptions:
- Offshore maritime employment;
- The enforcement of the field sanitation standard, 29 CFR 1928.110, and the enforcement of the temporary labor camps standard, 29 CFR 1910.142, concerning any agricultural establishment where workers are engaged in “agricultural employment” within the meaning of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, 29 U.S.C. 1802(3) – regardless of the number of workers – including workers engaged in hand packing of produce into containers, whether done on the ground, on a moving machine, or in a temporary packing shed, except that Minnesota retains enforcement responsibility over agricultural temporary labor camps for workers engaged in egg, poultry, or red meat production, or the post-harvest processing of agricultural or horticultural commodities;
- Any establishment owned or operated by an Indian tribe or an enrolled member of an Indian tribe within an Indian reservation or on lands held in trust by the Federal Government. (Non-Indian businesses on reservations and trust lands are covered by the State);
- Contract employees and contractor-operated facilities engaged in United States Postal Service mail operations;
- Employment on land under exclusive federal jurisdiction adjacent to land formerly occupied by the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant. (The land formerly occupied by the plant is under State jurisdiction); and
- All working conditions of aircraft cabin crew members onboard aircraft in operation.
The enforcement of the safety and health requirements falls under the purview of MNOSHA. Therefore, the MNOSHA directives serve as the program’s direction for enforcement.
Unique State Plan Standards
MNOSHA has adopted the majority of OSHA standards by reference; however, the State Plan has also adopted some exceptional standards, including but not limited to:
General Industry
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Walking, Working Surfaces
- Vent Pipe Outlets
- Indoor Ventilation and Temperature in Places of Employment
- Carbon Monoxide Monitoring
- Illumination
- Exit and Emergency Lighting
- Ventilation for Garages
- Window Cleaning
- Machine Guarding
- Hazardous Substances
- Harmful Physical Agents
- Infectious Agents
- Safe Patient Handling
- A Workplace Accident and Injury Reduction (AWAIR) Program
Construction
- Demolition
- Spray Painting of Building Interiors
- Wire Rope Clips
- Walking, Working Surfaces
- Carbon Monoxide Monitoring
- Cranes, Hoists, and Derricks
- Warning Signs at Construction or Engineering Projects
- Sanitation
- Motorized Self-Propelled Vehicles
- Powered Industrial Trucks
- Servicing Multi-piece and Single Piece Rim Vehicles
- Operation of Mobile Earth-Moving Equipment
- Elevating Work Platform Equipment
- Hazardous Substances
- Harmful Physical Agents
- Infectious Agents
- A Workplace Accident and Injury Reduction (AWAIR) Program
Workers in Minnesota who opt for supervisory or managerial roles in the construction industry must take Online OSHA 30 training in Minnesota since Federal OSHA and most employers mandate it prefers OSHA 30 certified employees to those without prior training.
