Applicability Of Standards

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this rule, the standards contained in this chapter shall apply with respect to employments performed in all workplaces in the State of Tennessee. (2) None of the standards in this chapter shall apply to working conditions of employees exempted from coverage under the Act. These are: (a) Employees of the federal government, including its departments, agencies and instrumentalities; (b) Employees whose safety and health are subject to protection under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 USC §§ 2011-2296); (c) Employees whose safety and health are subject to protection under the federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (30 USC §§ 801 et seq.), the federal Metal and Nonmetallic Mine Safety Act (30 USC §§ 725) [repealed], or Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 59; (d) Railroad employees whose safety and health are subject to protection under the federal Safety Appliances Act (45 USC §§ 1 et seq.) or the federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (45 USC §§ 431-441); (e) Domestic workers; and (f) RESERVED (g) Any employee engaged in agriculture who is employed on a farm, each of the employees of which is related to the employer as a spouse, child, parent, grandparent or grandchild. (3) Applicability of specific vs. general standards. (a) If a particular standard is specifically applicable to a condition, practice, means, method, operation or process, it shall prevail over any different general standard which might otherwise be applicable to the same condition, practice, means, method, operation or process. For example, the standard 29 CFR 1910.217 as adopted by rules of this chapter prescribes guarding for mechanical power presses. Such a standard shall apply, and shall not be deemed modified or superseded by any different general standard whose provisions might otherwise be applicable, such as the standard 29 CFR 1910.212 as adopted by rules of this chapter which prescribes general requirements for all machines. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS CHAPTER 0800-01-01 FOR GENERAL INDUSTRY (b) On the other hand, any standard shall apply according to its terms to any employment and place of employment in any industry, as standards 29 CFR 1910.261 through 29 CFR 1910.272 (Appendix C) as adopted by rules of this chapter or 29 CFR 1926 as adopted by rules in Chapter 0800-01-06. For example, the general standard regarding noise exposure, 29 CFR 1910.95 as adopted by rules of this chapter, applies to employments and places of employment in pulp, paper and paperboard mills covered by the standard 29 CFR 1910.261 as adopted by rules of this chapter. (4) In the event a standard protects on its face a class of persons larger than employees, the standard shall be applicable under the Act only to those employees and their employment and places of employment. (5) An employer who is in compliance with any standard in this chapter shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirement of T.C.A. § 50-3-105(1), but only to the extent of the condition, practice, means, method, operation or process covered by the standard.