Much Ado About OSHA Interpretation Letters

There has been much ado about compliance assistance from the United States Department of Labor (DOL) this year. With these expanded opportunities, employers should consider seeking guidance on application of OSHA standards to their unique work environments. 

The DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a news release on December 10, 2025, calling attention to seven letters of interpretation—addressing topics from Covid-19 to confined space—intended “to ensure the consistent and transparent application of federal workplace safety and health standards.”

This news release follows the DOL’s announcement on June 2, 2025, of a newly launched opinion letter program under Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling (confirmed March 12, 2025) that “expands the department's longstanding commitment to providing meaningful compliance assistance” and involves five key enforcement agencies, including OSHA. Different agencies issue different forms of compliance guidance with varying legal significance. From OSHA, we can expect “letters of interpretation” (LOI), which give a requester OSHA’s take on how its standards would apply to worksite-specific conditions. 

The seven interpretation letters referenced in OSHA’s recent news release were published between January 3 and June 17, 2025, and conclude with a disclaimer: “OSHA's requirements are set by statute, standards, and regulations. Our letters of interpretation do not create new or additional requirements but rather explain these requirements and how they apply to particular circumstances.” While LOIs are intended solely to provide guidance to employers, an employer’s reliance on an OSHA LOI can help ensure that in the event of an inspection, OSHA will be consistent in applying its standards to an individual workplace condition. In other words, if OSHA issues a citation for an approach that was “blessed” in an interpretation letter, the interpretation letter may provide grounds to have the citation vacated. Most importantly, an interpretation letter from OSHA can take the guess work out of planning for compliance, especially with performance-based standards under which employers must identify the specific equipment or methods of achieving a prescribed objective.  

Regardless of whether the 2025 OSHA interpretation letters apply to one’s business, the DOL’s emphasis on providing regulatory guidance is welcome news for employers. OSHA interpretation letters can be helpful in planning for compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and when evaluating or challenging an OSHA citation. Past interpretation letters are available on a new landing page. There’s no need to observe from a distance, however. OSHA’s general policy is to publish all LOIs in response to questions from the regulated community. 

Given the DOL’s embrace of interpretation letters, employers should consider taking a proactive approach on thorny compliance issues by requesting OSHA’s interpretation of potentially applicable safety standards. To alleviate concern that requesting an interpretation letter could trigger an inspection, businesses can retain counsel who can submit a request without disclosing the business’s identity. Therefore, employers interested in anonymously soliciting an interpretation letter from OSHA should consult with employment counsel.