Is OSHA 10 Required in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania is the one state on this site with a confirmed statewide negative: no statute requires OSHA 10 anywhere in the state. But the City of Philadelphia requires it by municipal ordinance, and that city-level mandate is actually broader in scope than most of the state-level mandates covered on this site's other pages, because it reaches private construction too.
Does Pennsylvania require OSHA 10 by state law?
No. Pennsylvania has no statewide OSHA-10 mandate: no state statute or regulation, including the Prevailing Wage Act and the Commonwealth Procurement Code, requires a 10-hour, 30-hour, or other OSHA training course.
Pennsylvania is also listed on federal OSHA's own state-plan directory as having no OSHA-approved State Plan of either kind.
Pennsylvania has a strong prevailing-wage tradition and had the exact legal vehicle that carries New York's and Connecticut's public-works mandates - and did not use it for an OSHA-10 requirement.
Does the City of Philadelphia require OSHA 10?
Yes, the City of Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections requires every worker on a permit-regulated construction or demolition site to complete OSHA 10 Construction (or an approved alternative), with proof kept on the job site by the contractor.
This Philadelphia ordinance carries no dollar threshold and is not limited to public work, which makes it broader in reach than New York's $250,000 public-work threshold, Massachusetts's $10,000 public-works threshold, or Connecticut's public-works-only mandate - it applies to private Philadelphia construction and demolition too, wherever a construction or demolition permit is required.
Does Philadelphia also require an OSHA 30 supervisor?
Yes, contractors, excavation contractors, and demolition contractors must identify at least one supervisory employee who has completed OSHA 30 Construction, with proof submitted at license application or renewal, and the course completed within the preceding 5 years.
This supervisor requirement does not reach plumbing, electrical, or fire-suppression contractors, or registered Pennsylvania home-improvement contractors holding no separate Philadelphia license - it attaches specifically to the general contractor, excavation contractor, and demolition contractor license categories. At renewal, a contractor that has already had an OSHA 30 certificate accepted may substitute 30 continuing-education hours in construction or demolition safety, from a provider approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, instead of retaking the full OSHA 30 course.
Who does the Philadelphia mandate not reach?
The Philadelphia ordinance does not reach delivery people, design professionals and their own staff, special inspectors, or any worker not actually doing permit-regulated construction or demolition work within city limits.
A worker outside Philadelphia, or working on a project that does not require a construction or demolition permit, is not covered by this specific municipal mandate, even though they may still need an OSHA 10 card for other reasons - an employer's own policy, or a different state's statute if the work crosses jurisdiction lines.
Is there a bill that would create a statewide Pennsylvania requirement?
A pending bill, Senate Bill 346 of the 2025-2026 session, would establish a Pennsylvania Occupational Safety and Health Review Board, but it remains in committee, is not law, and creates no current OSHA-10 requirement.
This bill's scope, as introduced, targets public-employee workplace-safety coverage generally rather than an OSHA-10 training mandate specifically; a reader should not treat it as creating any current OSHA-10 requirement. Check the Pennsylvania General Assembly's own bill-tracking page for its current status before relying on it.
Related pages
- OSHA 10 Requirements by State - the full hub, with the comparison table of every mandate jurisdiction
- OSHA 10 Requirements: Hours, Tracks, and Card Rules - the federal baseline rules that still apply even without a statewide mandate
- OSHA 10 vs. OSHA 30 - how Philadelphia's supervisor requirement compares to other mandate jurisdictions
- Is OSHA 10 Required in New York? - a state/city pairing with a dollar threshold, unlike Philadelphia's no-threshold ordinance
- Approved Providers - the federal roster Philadelphia's ordinance defers to
Sources
| Fact | Value | Authority | URL | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No statewide OSHA-10 mandate | No 10-hour, 30-hour, or other OSHA training requirement in Pennsylvania statute or regulation, including the Prevailing Wage Act and Commonwealth Procurement Code | Pennsylvania General Assembly; U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA (state-plan directory) | https://www.osha.gov/stateplans | 2026-09-19 |
| Philadelphia worker mandate | OSHA 10 Construction, all permit-regulated construction/demolition workers | City of Philadelphia L&I | https://www.phila.gov/departments/department-of-licenses-and-inspections/inspections/contractor-requirements/ | 2026-09-19 |
| Philadelphia supervisor mandate | OSHA 30 Construction, 1+ supervisory employee, within preceding 5 years | City of Philadelphia L&I | https://www.phila.gov/departments/department-of-licenses-and-inspections/inspections/contractor-requirements/ | 2026-09-19 |
| Philadelphia dollar threshold | None; not limited to public work | City of Philadelphia L&I | https://www.phila.gov/departments/department-of-licenses-and-inspections/inspections/contractor-requirements/ | 2026-09-19 |
| Philadelphia supervisor renewal alternative | 30 CE hours from a PA L&I-approved provider, in lieu of retaking OSHA 30 | City of Philadelphia L&I | https://www.phila.gov/departments/department-of-licenses-and-inspections/inspections/contractor-requirements/ | 2026-09-19 |
| Pennsylvania State Plan status | No OSHA-approved State Plan exists | U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA | https://www.osha.gov/stateplans | 2026-09-19 |
| Pending statewide bill | Senate Bill 346, 2025-2026 session, referred to committee Feb. 26, 2025 | Pennsylvania General Assembly | https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/sb346 | 2026-09-19 |
| Philadelphia L&I phone number | (215) 686-8686, listed under the Connect section as an alternative to 311 | City of Philadelphia L&I | https://www.phila.gov/departments/department-of-licenses-and-inspections/ | 2026-09-19 |
Frequently asked questions
If I work outside Philadelphia but inside Pennsylvania, do I need OSHA 10?
Not by state law - Pennsylvania has no statewide OSHA-10 mandate, so outside Philadelphia the card is employer- or contract-driven only, the same as in a non-mandate state.
Does the Philadelphia mandate apply to a homeowner doing their own renovation?
The mandate language reaches permit-regulated construction and demolition sites and registered contractors: the page states OSHA-10 Construction training is required for "All workers on a construction or demolition site" and lists the exemption "Delivery people. Design professionals and their staff. Special inspectors. Workers that aren't doing permit-regulated construction or demolition." L&I's own contractor-requirements page repeats this exact exemption list and adds no owner-occupied carve-out anywhere on the page. The page does not separately state whether the owner-occupied one- or two-family dwelling licensing exemption also exempts owner-performed work from this training condition; call Philadelphia L&I at (215) 686-8686 to ask about owner-performed-work scope.
Why does Pennsylvania have no State Plan when neighboring states do?
Federal OSHA's own state-plan directory confirms Pennsylvania has no State Plan, but it does not give the legislative history behind that choice; that history is outside this page's scope.
Does completing OSHA 10 in another state satisfy Philadelphia's requirement?
The underlying federal card is not state-specific, so a card completed elsewhere should satisfy the Philadelphia ordinance's course-completion requirement the same way it satisfies any other jurisdiction's mandate on this site, since the ordinance requires the course, not a Philadelphia-specific enrollment.
Are Pennsylvania public employees covered by any OSHA-type safety standard at all?
Pennsylvania has no State Plan, and federal OSHA has no jurisdiction over state and local government employers, meaning Pennsylvania public employees are covered by neither system for general enforcement purposes - a genuine coverage gap distinct from the OSHA-10 training-card question this page addresses.