What you should know about OSHA Directives

As a safety manager, you probably read news items stating that "OSHA has issued a new Directive..." on some rule or regulation. Should you be concerned about these directives? Are they useful to you? Do they reflect new requirements?

Directives are not rules or regulations. They are statements of new or revised OSHA policy or procedure that represent the official position of the Agency, but are not legally binding on employers. OSHA is required to publish legally binding documents applicable to employers, such as regulations and standards, in the Federal Register and codify them in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Directives do not fall into this category.

Although they are not legally-binding, Directives can provide useful information to help with your compliance efforts. In many cases, they describe how OSHA inspectors should interpret a certain rule or regulation. This can help you, in turn, interpret the standard in a similar fashion to perhaps avoid citations.

OSHA Directives vs. other communications

OSHA publishes Directives (Instructions or Directions) when the information it wishes to communicate is to remain in effect for more than one year, and:

• Establishes new policy or procedure;
• Amends established policy or procedure;
• Interprets the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970;
• Delegates, assigns, or changes authority or responsibility;
• Establishes or changes organizational structure;
• Revises or cancels another OSHA Directive; or
• Establishes a recurring report or reporting format.

OSHA publishes Notices to communicate short-term policy and procedure pronouncements that are not to remain in effect for more than one year.

All other written and electronic materials issued by OSHA are Non-Policy Issuances (NPIs). NPIs include letters of interpretation, fact sheets, press kits, publications, health bulletins, e-mails, and routine correspondence.

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