Hawaii Rebuffs OSHA Efforts To Take Over Parts Of State Plan, Commits To Rebuild Program

Hawaii's new governor is pushing back against federal OSHA efforts to assert concurrent jurisdiction over the state OSHA plan, telling federal OSHA he will put more resources into the program and touting aspects of the state program's standards that he contends go beyond federal rules in protecting worker safety and health. Meanwhile the state's newly appointed director of labor and industrial relations told Inside OSHA Online that the state is “strongly committed” to rebuilding the program. The outcome of talks between Hawaii and federal officials could signal how far OSHA is willing to go in