The U.S. Department of Labor certified Maine's Completion of Developmental Steps of Occupational Safety and its health plan for state, local and government workers.
The certification verifies Maine has satisfactorily completed all required aspects of the plan, such as the structural components, and has all the necessary components ready to go, according to a March 21 news release.
“Certifying Maine’s state plan marks a major milestone for the state’s public employees, and for the development of the state’s occupational safety and health program,” Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said in the release.
Maine is one of seven state plans that administer safety and health programs for state and local government workers only, the release reported. The other states are New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and the Virgin Islands.
The plan covers approximately 2,400 state and local government employers and nearly 80,000 workers in the state, county and local governments, in addition to employees of quasi-municipal agencies, the release said.
Parker said the state’s commitment to providing state government workers with the same workplace safety protections as those given to private sector workers is commendable, according to the release. Conversely, the Maine state plan does not cover federal government workers or those employed by private sector employers in the state. The federal OSHA program covers these employers as well as those employed by private sector employers in the state.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and 29 CFR Part 1956 make it legal for states and territories to establish their own plans that cover only state and local government workers as well as those workers who are excluded from federal coverage, the release reported. OSHA provides the financial backing for as much as 50% of the program’s costs once a state plan is approved.
Maine's plan went into effect March 21, according to the release.
