Are you covered?

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, a state can elect to run its own program provided it is as effective as the federal program.

Another condition is that the program must cover state and local employees—even though the federal law does not.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), there are 22 states running their own programs, which cover both private sector and state and local government employees. State plans in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York cover public employees only.

According to the AFL-CIO, more than 8 million state and local government employees are not covered. Are you one of them?

Following is a partial listing of states where public employees have no formal process for addressing on-the-job health and safety issues.