OSHA and Business Aviation Expectations

Under the OSH Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established within the Department of Labor and was authorized to regulate health and safety conditions for all employers with few exceptions.

OSHA covers private sector employers and employees in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other U.S. territories and jurisdictions either directly through Federal OSHA or through an OSHA-approved state program.

The Business Aviation standards are located in CFR 29, Part 1910 - Occupational Health and Safety Standards, General Industry. Within the General Industry standard, Business Aviation is further classified in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For example, Code 481211 pertains to Nonscheduled Air Passenger Transportation and Code 488190 offers guidelines for Other Support Activities for Air Transportation. Although OSH Act does not apply to flight deck crew on an aircraft in operation, it does apply on all their duties leading up to the aircraft door including loading bags and walking through the hangar.

Where OSHA does not have standards, employers are responsible for following the OSH Act's General Duty Clause. The General Duty Clause states that each employer "shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees."

The International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) program, provides standardized operating procedures and requirements to business aircraft operators. For those Business Flight Departments that have chosen to adopt IS-BAO, Standard 13.0 Occupational Health and Safety indicates: “An operator shall have a process to identify and comply with all national and local occupational health and safety laws and requirements, including those related to…..”

Advanced Aircrew Academy’s OSHA course is responsive to the IS-BAO training requirement for all national and local occupational health and safety laws and requirements. No specific time interval is required in the IS-BAO standard; however, CFR 29 Part 1910 does require certain workplace safety topics (Bloodborne Pathogens and Personal Protection Equipment) to be trained annually. Your state may have more restrictive requirements. See our Course Catalog for all your OSHA training requirements.