HIOSH Cedes Jurisdiction of Private Employers on Bases
Effective Oct. 12, federal OSHA has the responsibility of conducting safety and health inspections of private-sector employers inside the borders of all military installations in Hawaii.
The Hawaii Department of Labor and Industries has ceded to federal OSHA the job of conducting safety and health inspections of private-sector employers within the borders of all military installations in Hawaii. OSHA published this information Oct. 12 in a rule amending its description of the state plan to reflect the change, which took effect immediately.
The change stemmed from a November 2010 request from Pearl Imada Iboshi, former director of the department, to the OSHA regional administrator seeking a change in the jurisdictional responsibilities between HIOSH -- the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division -- and OSHA.
She listed these reasons: (1) to eliminate dual or overlapping state and federal jurisdiction; (2) to ease obtaining security clearances to highly classified and/or restricted areas; (3) to improve coverage of hazardous waterfront working conditions; and (4) to enhance the ability to negotiate with controlling federal agencies on hazard Hawaii retains responsibility for coverage of any state and local government employers and employees at these facilities.