First, how does OSHA affect aviation safety? What is aviation safety? Short and to the point, aviation safety covers all aspects safety within the aviation, from airline industry personnel working ground operations to aircrew working flight operations, and everyone in between. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) established a comprehensive regulatory scheme covering safety and health conditions in workplaces throughout the United States and its territories. There are 23 states and jurisdictions that operate OSHA-approved state plans covering both the private and public sectors (state and local government employees). Like OSHA, these states currently enforce their occupational safety and health standards on the ground at airports, protecting primarily airport and airline maintenance and ground crews. However, OSHA is preempted from exercising its authority under the OSH Act if another federal agency has been granted statutory authority to regulate the relevant working conditions, and the other federal agency has exercised its authority in a manner such as to exempt the cited working conditions from OSHA’s jurisdiction.
On July 10, 1975, FAA published guidance information in the Federal Register that detailed FAA’s role with respect to occupational safety and health conditions affecting aircraft crewmembers on aircraft in operation (40 FR 29114). In the Federal Register statement, FAA determined that its authority to promote the safety of civil aircraft operations. As a result, FAA concluded that, with respect to civil aircraft in operation, the overall FAA regulatory program fully occupies and exhausts the field of aircraft crewmember occupational safety and health.
On August 7, 2000 the FAA and OSHA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The purpose of the MOU is to enhance safety and health in the aviation industry. In the MOU, FAA and OSHA agreed to establish a joint team (FAA/OSHA Aviation Safety and Health Team) to identify the factors to be considered in determining whether OSHA requirements can be applied to the working conditions of employees on aircraft in operation (other than flight deck crew) without compromising aviation safety.
The following are several areas in which OSHA regulations can be utilized:
1. Recordkeeping: OSHA's existing regulations on recording and reporting occupational injuries and illness are applicable to all employees in the aviation industry. Compliance with these regulations does not implicate aviation safety concerns.
2. Bloodborne Pathogens: The requirements of OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard concerning hepatitis B vaccinations, personal protective equipment (PPE), and exposure training could be applied to employees on aircraft in operation (other than flight deck crew) without compromising aviation safety. However, OSHA requirements that necessitate engineering and administrative controls may implicate aviation safety and would need to be subject to FAA approval.
3. Noise: The training and testing requirements of OSHA's standard on occupational exposure to noise could be applied to employees on aircraft in operation (other than flight deck crew) without compromising aviation safety. However, requirements that necessitate the use of engineering and administrative controls and PPE would implicate aviation safety concerns. Any such controls should be subject to FAA’s approval.
4. Sanitation: Since OSHA’s sanitation standard is flexible and performance-oriented, it could be applied to aircraft in operation without compromising aviation safety. However, sanitary conditions on aircraft are regulated by several federal agencies in addition to FAA, and any consideration of applying OSHA requirements must be informed by a discussion of the effects of multi-agency regulation.
5. Hazard Communication: Compliance with OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard would not compromise aviation safety. Under the various circumstances the team has considered, employers could comply with the standard’s requirements while remaining sensitive to flight safety concerns.
6. Anti-discrimination: OSHA's anti-discrimination provisions could be applied to employees on aircraft in operation (other than flight deck crew) without compromising aviation safety. Although the OSH Act has
been interpreted to provide employees with the right to refuse to perform work tasks in certain limited situations, the team can conceive of few scenarios in which a safety or health hazard associated with the standards considered in this report would present the immediacy and degree of danger required to justify a work refusal protected under the OSH Act.
http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/ashp/media/faa-osha-report.pdf
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