North Carolina is an OSHA-approved State Plan that covers both private and state and local government workers. With certain exceptions, the N.C. Department of Labor (NCDOL) adopts federal OSHA standards verbatim. Standards information and activity provides the status of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Division’s adoption of federal standards and compliance dates. When OSH Administrative rules differ from federal OSHA standards, employers must comply with the state-specific rules.
The OSH Division enforcement procedures provide guidance to compliance personnel, to ensure responsibilities related to enforcement of the OSHA standards are carried out in an effective, efficient, and consistent manner. Some of the guidance documents are federal documents that have been adopted for use in N.C. while others have been created specifically for N.C. To learn more about the inspection process, go to the compliance inspection process webpage.
Many employers have questions regarding which Occupational Safety and Health standards apply to them. For this reason, the OSH Division has put together information at the following links that will help the employer determine which standards apply to them as it pertains to recordkeeping, general industry, construction, agriculture, shipyard employment (public sector only) and marine terminals (public sector only). This includes North Carolina state-specific standards. The OSH Division does not have enforcement jurisdiction for the longshoring standards.
This document will address standards applicable to General Industry and North Carolina State-Specific standards. OSHA uses the term “General Industry” to refer to all industries not included in agriculture, construction or maritime. General industries are regulated by OSHA’s general industry standards, directives, and standard interpretations.
Note: Many employers may need to comply with both General Industry standards and Construction standards depending on the “work that is being performed”. Construction work means construction, alteration, and/or repair, including painting and decorating