Question: How will the final rule affect state restrictions on the use of RDS?

Answer:

The final rule does not affect California, Minnesota, and Washington regulations restricting the heights at which employers may use RDS because these regulations were issued through OSHA-approved occupational safety and health State Plans that cover both private sector and state and local government employees.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act ("OSH Act") preempts state regulation of occupational safety and health issues for which there is a federal OSHA standard, unless the state's regulations are created under the auspices of an OSHA-approved State Plan. State Plans are required to have standards, and an enforcement program for those standards, that are at least as effective as federal OSHA. The OSH Act allows for State Plans to be more effective than OSHA, and as such, states with OSHA-approved State Plans can adopt standards that provide a greater level of protection to workers covered by the State Plan. Full-coverage State Plans, like CA, MN and WA, can continue to impose equal or lower height restriction for RDS use in both private sector and state and local government workplaces.

New York has an OSHA-approved State Plan that is limited to state and local government workers. OSHA's final rule preempts the New York regulations as it applies to private sector workers, but not as it applies to state and local government workers.