State and local government workers are excluded from Federal coverage under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the "OSH Act"). However, states operating their own state workplace safety and health programs under plans approved by the U.S. Department of Labor cover most private sector workers and are also required to extend their coverage to public sector (state and local government) workers in the state. Section 2 (11) of the OSH Act encourages states to develop and operate their own state OSH programs. OSHA regulations [29 CFR Part 1956] also permit states without approved plans to develop plans that cover only public sector workers. In these states, private sector employment remains under Federal OSHA jurisdiction. Twenty-two states and territories operate plans covering both the public and private sectors and five states - Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and the Virgin Islands - operate public employee only plans. States without OSHA-approved state job safety and health plans may voluntarily provide safety and health protection to their governmental to workers. Many states without approved safety and health programs do provide coverage public employees, to varying degrees, through programs that do not receive Federal funding and are not subject to Federal OSHA oversight. Some of the resources listed below may assist "non-plan" states in providing better protection to their state and local government employees. See more from topic source: https://www.osha.gov/html/a-z-index.html