Kentucky OSHA State Plan (Kentucky OSH): what a contractor needs to know

Who the Kentucky OSH plan covers

The Kentucky State Plan applies to all private sector workplaces in the state with the exception of:

1. Maritime employment, including shipyard employment, marine terminals, and longshoring;
2. Employment at Tennessee Valley Authority facilities, military bases, and other properties ceded to the federal government;
3. Contract workers and contractor-operated facilities engaged in United States Postal Service (USPS) mail operations;
4. The enforcement of the field sanitation standard (29 CFR 1928.110) and the enforcement of the temporary labor camps standard (29 CFR 1910.142) with respect to any agricultural establishment where workers are engaged in "agricultural employment" within the meaning of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, 29 U.S.C. 1802(3) – regardless of the number of workers – including workers engaged in hand packing of produce into containers, whether done on the ground, on a moving machine, or in a temporary packing shed, except that Kentucky retains enforcement responsibility over agricultural temporary labor camps for workers engaged in egg, poultry, or red meat production, or the post-harvest processing of agricultural or horticultural commodities;
5. All working conditions of aircraft cabin crewmembers onboard aircraft in operation; and
6. Any hazard, industry, geographical area, operation or facility over which the state is unable to effectively exercise jurisdiction for reasons not related to the required performance or structure of the State Plan.

The Kentucky State Plan also applies to state and local government employers. It does not apply to federal government employers including USPS. Federal OSHA covers the issues not covered by the Kentucky State Plan, except for the enforcement of the field sanitation and temporary labor camp standards, as described above, which is the responsibility of the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor. In addition, federal OSHA retains enforcement of the anti-retaliation provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Section 11(c), 29 USC 660(c), with respect to the private sector. Kentucky OSH also investigates private and state and local government workplace retaliation cases under a provision analogous to Section 11(c).

Source: OSHA, Kentucky State Plan, read October 1, 2026.

Hazard communication in Kentucky

The federal compliance dates and how each State Plan adopted HCS 2024 are compared on HazCom deadlines 2026 and in HCS 2024 deadlines by State Plan. The rule every other State Plan cites is in the State Plan HazCom rule map.

Penalties and appeals

Key facts

• OSHA first approved the Kentucky State Plan on July 31, 1973 (38 FR 20324); final approval under section 18(e) came on June 13, 1985 (50 FR 24896).
• A summary of the Kentucky State Plan is codified at 29 CFR 1952.11.
• OSHA lists 6 exceptions to the plan's private-sector coverage, and federal OSHA covers what the plan does not.
• Federal OSHA keeps enforcement of the anti-retaliation provision of section 11(c) of the OSH Act for the private sector, according to OSHA's page for the plan.
• OSHA's page lists 26 standards Kentucky wrote for itself, 10 of them in construction.
• Hazard communication in Kentucky runs through 803 KAR 2:320 Section 6 (general industry) and 803 KAR 2:403 Section 2(1) (construction).
• In FY2025 (October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025), Kentucky OSH issued 563 construction citations in 177 inspections, with $1,687,340 in current penalties (OSHA cited-standards tool).
• Kentucky's maximum for a serious violation is $7,000, set by KRS 338.991.