New York — Workplace Safety

New York operates a state OSHA plan covering only public-sector workers. The Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) Bureau, created in 1980 under Labor Law § 27-a, enforces workplace safety and health standards for all state and local government employees, including public authorities, school districts, and fire departments. Private-sector employers and federal government workers (including U.S. Postal Service employees and civilian workers on military bases) remain under federal OSHA jurisdiction. PESH has generally adopted all federal OSHA standards applicable to state and local government employment and has authority to develop state-initiated standards.

Source: N.Y. Lab. Law § 27-a; OSHA State Plan — New York

Public employers covered by PESH must maintain records of work-related injuries and illnesses under 12 NYCRR Part 801. The regulation, which aligns with federal OSHA recordkeeping standards, requires employers to use New York State forms SH-900, SH-900.1, and SH-900.2 (equivalent to federal OSHA forms 300, 300A, and 301, respectively).

Forms and purposes

The SH-900 Log records all work-related injuries and illnesses throughout the calendar year. The SH-900.2 Incident Report documents the details of each individual recordable case. The SH-900.1 Summary aggregates the year's totals. Employers may substitute the federal OSHA 300-series forms if they contain all information required by the state regulation.

Recording criteria

An employer must record every work-related fatality and every work-related injury or illness that involves loss of consciousness, restricted work activity or job transfer, days away from work, or medical treatment beyond first aid. Section 801.7 also mandates recording significant work-related injuries and illnesses diagnosed by a physician or licensed health care professional, even if they do not meet the general criteria. Special recording criteria apply to needlestick injuries, work-related cases of cancer, chronic irreversible diseases, fractured or cracked bones, and punctured eardrums.

Retention and posting

All three forms must be retained for five years following the end of the calendar year they cover (§ 801.32(a)). The SH-900.1 Summary must be posted in a conspicuous location where employees customarily see notices from February 1 through April 30 each year, displaying the previous calendar year's data.

Privacy protections

Section 801.29 requires employers to protect employee privacy for certain "privacy concern cases" by not entering the employee's name on the SH-900 Log. Privacy concern cases include injuries or illnesses to intimate body parts or the reproductive system, injuries resulting from sexual assault, HIV infection or hepatitis, mental illness, and needlestick injuries contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material. The employer must maintain a separate confidential Privacy Case List linking case numbers to employee names.

Electronic reporting

Effective July 31, 2024, PESH amended Part 801 to require certain employers to electronically submit injury and illness data by March 2 each year (§ 801.41). Three categories of covered employers must report:

• Category 1: Establishments with 20–249 employees at any time during the previous calendar year in designated industries must submit data from the SH-900.1 Summary.
• Category 2: Establishments with 250 or more employees at any time during the previous calendar year must submit data from the SH-900.1 Summary.
• Category 3: Establishments with 100 or more employees at any time during the previous calendar year in industries listed in § 801.41(e) must submit data from the SH-900 Log, SH-900.2 Incident Report, and SH-900.1 Summary.

The designated industries for each category are specified by the Commissioner of Labor and identified on the Department of Labor's website.

Employee access

Section 801.35 grants employees, former employees, personal representatives, and authorized employee representatives limited access to the injury and illness records. When an employee or representative requests the SH-900 Log, the employer must provide it by the end of the next business day. If an employee requests the SH-900.2 Incident Report describing an injury or illness to that employee, the employer must provide it by the end of the next business day.

Source: 12 NYCRR Part 801

The key financial penalty for violations under New York's Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) Act arises not from upfront fines but from daily penalties for failure to correct ("abate") cited hazards. When PESH inspectors issue a Notice of Violation and Order to Comply, the employer receives a deadline to abate each citation. If conditions remain uncorrected after that date, daily fines begin to accrue immediately and continue each calendar day until PESH verifies compliance.

Daily dollar cap: According to the New York Department of Labor, PESH penalties "shall not exceed $200 per calendar day until compliance is achieved"—regardless of whether the original violation was classified as serious or non-serious. This daily maximum applies per violation, and can accrue rapidly if multiple violations remain open after their abatement dates. (Source: NYSDOL Public Employee Safety & Health overview, last updated April 2024.)

Penalty variation and supervision: The PESH Field Operations Manual (FOM) guides enforcement supervisors to consider deterrence, the employer's violation history, hazard severity, and abatement good faith, but does not prescribe tiered dollar amounts for "serious" versus "non-serious" violations like federal OSHA. The FOM allows supervisors to assign penalties below the maximum if circumstances warrant, but no higher than the statutory daily cap.

No upfront citation fines: New York's statute and published agency procedures are silent as to fixed "baseline" penalty amounts for citations issued at the time of inspection. All sources reviewed point to accrued per-day fines as the practical enforcement lever.

Willful or repeat conduct: The FOM provides that cases involving willfully repeated refusal may justify the maximum daily penalty from the outset. Supervisors retain discretion to set the exact daily penalty within the $200 cap, based on gravity and history.

Petition to delay abatement: Employers who cannot timely abate for reasons beyond their control may file a Petition to Modify Abatement Date (PMA) before the original deadline. While the PMA is under review, no daily failure-to-abate penalty accrues. The employer must show good faith and feasible alternatives for worker safety during the delay.

Unable to confirm as of 2026-06-16: I could not confirm from primary statutory, regulatory, or agency sources the existence of a lower daily penalty cap for "non-serious" violations, or an explicit distinction in penalty structure for serious vs. non-serious, as of this writing.

Source: NYSDOL Public Employee Safety & Health overview Source: PESH Field Operations Manual (April 2021)

New York’s PESH (Public Employee Safety and Health) recordkeeping requirements under 12 NYCRR Part 801 apply to all public employers in the state—there are no carve-outs based on employer size, agency type, or organizational structure. The regulation defines “employer” in § 801.46 as including any State, political subdivision, public authority, or entity acting as an instrumentality thereof. There is no provision that exempts small public employers, school districts, municipalities, public authorities, or other public organizational forms from the statutory duty to keep and maintain the required injury and illness records (forms SH-900, SH-900.1, and SH-900.2).

Unlike federal OSHA, which exempts certain employers in low-risk industries or those with 10 or fewer employees from some recordkeeping duties, PESH’s adoption of Part 801 does not incorporate industry or headcount exceptions for public employers. Every public employer covered by PESH, regardless of size, must follow the same recordkeeping requirements. Comparison: 12 NYCRR § 801.1 states the regulation applies to “every employer” as defined in § 801.46, and contains no size or industry limitations.

In short, there are currently NO statutory or regulatory exemptions from PESH injury and illness recordkeeping duties for specific categories of New York public employers. All are covered.

Source: 12 NYCRR Part 801

Right to file a safety or health complaint:

Under New York Labor Law § 27-a(6)(a), any public employee (state, local, public authority, school district, public benefit corporation, or fire department) has the right to file a written complaint with the Commissioner of Labor alleging that a workplace condition violates a safety or health standard or creates a substantial and specific danger to employee safety or health. Employees can file individually or jointly with other employees or their authorized representative.

Agency duty to investigate:

Upon receiving a complaint, the Commissioner must determine whether reasonable grounds exist to believe such a violation or danger exists and, if so, is obligated to conduct an inspection as soon as practicable. The complainant's name is kept confidential upon request (§ 27-a(6)(c)).

Protection against retaliation:

Labor Law § 27-a(10)(a)-(b) prohibits any public employer from disciplining, discharging, or otherwise retaliating against an employee because they have filed a safety or health complaint, initiated a proceeding, or participated in a PESH inspection, inquiry, or proceeding. This includes protection for whistleblowing and assisting in the enforcement of the law.

Deadline to file retaliation complaints:

A public employee who believes they have been subject to retaliation must file a written complaint with the Commissioner of Labor within thirty days of the alleged retaliatory action (Labor Law § 27-a(10)(c)). The Commissioner then investigates and can order appropriate relief, including reinstatement and restoration of lost wages.

Key source text:

• Right to file safety complaints: § 27-a(6)
• Anti-retaliation prohibition and deadline: § 27-a(10)

Source: N.Y. Lab. Law § 27-a

Coverage — Public Employers Only New York Labor Law § 27-b requires all public employers in New York State—meaning state agencies, public authorities, local governments, public benefit corporations, school districts, and special districts—to establish and maintain a workplace violence prevention program. Private-sector employers are not covered; this mandate applies only to public employers and their employees as defined in § 27-b(1)(b) and (d).

Program Core Requirements Section 27-b lays out a multipart mandate for covered public employers. The major requirements are:

1. Risk Evaluation and Determination — Employers must conduct a thorough and written risk evaluation of workplace violence hazards. This assessment must consider:

• The workplace's history of workplace violence incidents,
• The specific occupational risk factors present (such as working in isolated locations, handling money, working with volatile populations, or providing services in the community),
• Any relevant work environment or organizational factors, and
• Input from employees and authorized employee representatives (§ 27-b(2)(a)).

The employer must annually review and update this risk evaluation.

1. Written Workplace Violence Prevention Program — Based on the risk assessment, the employer must develop and implement a written workplace violence prevention program that:

• Clearly identifies the policies, procedures, and controls to minimize or eliminate identified risks,
• Assigns responsibility for the program’s implementation and supervision,
• Includes reporting and response procedures for workplace violence incidents,
• Is available to employees and their representatives (§ 27-b(2)(b), (c)).

1. Employee Training — Covered employers must provide all employees with initial and annual workplace violence prevention training that covers:

• The risk factors identified in the evaluation,
• The specifics of the written program, including how to report concerns,
• Measures for employee self-protection and employer procedures in response to incidents (§ 27-b(2)(d)).

Posting Requirement Employers must post a notice describing the workplace violence prevention program where employee notices are customarily placed (§ 27-b(2)(e)).

Enforcement and Compliance The NYS Department of Labor can inspect for compliance, and public employees may file complaints for violations of these requirements. The Department may order corrective action if an employer fails to implement, document, or provide training under the statute (§ 27-b(5), (6)).

Source: N.Y. Lab. Law § 27-b