In about half the country, workplace safety is enforced by a state agency instead of federal OSHA. These State Plans must be at least as effective as OSHA, and many add rules of their own: written safety programs, safety committees, heat training, workplace violence plans. Here is the list, what each one covers, and where the state training rules differ.
What a State Plan is
According to OSHA's State Plans page, there are 22 State Plans covering both private-sector and state and local government workers, and seven covering only state and local government workers. State Plans are monitored by OSHA and must be at least as effective as OSHA in protecting workers; they can adopt different or more stringent rules. Where there is no State Plan, federal OSHA covers most private employers, and state and local government workers are not covered by federal OSHA.
States with their own training rules
- California (Cal/OSHA): a written IIPP for every employer, heat illness training, a workplace violence prevention plan with annual training.
- Washington (L&I DOSH): a written accident prevention program, safety committees, annual heat and smoke training.
- Oregon OSHA: safety committees with trained members, annual heat and smoke training with records.
- Minnesota (MNOSHA): AWAIR, safety committees over 25 employees, yearly Right-to-Know training.
- Michigan (MIOSHA): training for every newly assigned employee, forklift permits.
- North Carolina: programs and committees for employers with an experience modifier of 1.5 or more.
- Virginia (VOSH): unique standards with training, a heat standard due by 2028.
- Nevada: OSHA-10 and OSHA-30 cards required by state law, written safety programs.
- Tennessee (TOSHA): hazard communication refresher training at least annually, with records kept for the time of employment plus five years (Rule 0800-01-09).
- Utah (UOSH): any work-related fatality, or disabling, serious or significant injury, is reported to the state within eight hours (Utah Code 34A-6-301).
- Arizona (ADOSH): no binding heat standard yet, but its heat emphasis program asks inspectors whether the employer trained workers under the state's heat recommendations.
Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Vermont and Wyoming also run full State Plans; most of their standards follow the federal ones, with some state-specific standards listed on each state's page at osha.gov.
Public employees only
Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and the Virgin Islands have plans for state and local government workers only; their private employers are covered by federal OSHA. See New York PESH for its workplace violence prevention rule.
Federal rules still apply
A State Plan adds to the baseline; it does not remove it. Training required by federal standards, such as hazard communication (29 CFR 1910.1200(h)) or fall protection in construction (29 CFR 1926.503), is adopted by the State Plans too. Our OSHA training quizzes cover those topics, and the workers' comp premium discounts page lists the states that reward a safety program.
A short quiz on any of these topics, played live from phones at the end of a session, shows what people actually understood, not only who signed the sheet. When you need evidence, run the same quiz in Test mode (Trainer plan): each worker answers under their own name, you set the pass mark, and you download a PDF learning assessment record with the date, the topic, the trainer, each person's answers and result, and a signature column. It sits next to the training records the state asks for; it does not replace the training, and Quizhat never certifies anyone. Quizhat is an independent tool, not affiliated with or endorsed by OSHA.
State rules change: read the current text on the state's site, or ask the state agency, before you rely on this summary.