Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, often referred to as the General Duty Clause, requires employers to "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". Section 5(a)(2) requires employers to "comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act".

Note: Twenty-four states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have OSHA-approved State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies. For the most part, these States adopt standards that are identical to Federal OSHA. However, some States have adopted different standards applicable to this topic or may have different enforcement policies.

General Industry (29 CFR 1910)

• 1910 Subpart B, Adoption and extension of established federal standards
  • 1910.19, Special provisions for air contaminants
• 1910 Subpart Z, Toxic and hazardous substances [related topic page]
  • 1910.1027, Cadmium. Applies to the worksites covered by 29 CFR 1910.16 (longshoring and marine terminals) unless specified otherwise.
  • Appendix A, Substance safety data sheet - cadmium
  • Appendix B, Substance technical guidelines for cadmium
  • Appendix C, Qualitative and quantitative fit testing procedures [removed]
  • Appendix D, Occupational health history interview with reference to cadmium exposure
  • Appendix E, Cadmium in workplace atmospheres
  • Appendix F, Nonmandatory protocol for biological monitoring

Shipyard Employment (29 CFR 1915)

• 1915 Subpart Z, Toxic and hazardous substances
  • 1915.1027, Cadmium. Applies to shipyard employment requirements identical to those set forth in 29 CFR 1910.1027.

Construction Industry (29 CFR 1926)

• 1926 Subpart Z, Toxic and hazardous substances
  • 1926.1127, Cadmium. The requirements applicable to construction work under these appendices are identical to those set forth in the appendices of this chapter 29 CFR 1910.1027.
    • Appendix A, Substance safety data sheet - cadmium
    • Appendix B, Substance technical guidelines for cadmium
    • Appendix C, Qualitative and quantitative fit testing procedures [removed]
    • Appendix D, Occupational health history interview with reference to cadmium exposure
    • Appendix E, Cadmium in workplace atmospheres
    • Appendix F, Nonmandatory protocol for biological monitoring

Agricultural Industry (29 CFR 1928)

• 1928 Subpart M, Occupational Health
  • 1928.1027, Cadmium. Applies to agriculture worksites standard requirements identical to those set forth in 29 CFR 1910.1027.

• Occupational Exposure to Cadmium. (1992). Reviews the existing regulations for occupational exposures in other countries worldwide. The range of existing PELs runs from the ban of all non-essential uses of cadmium in Sweden to OSHA's existing time weighted average (TWA) PEL of 200ug/m(3) for cadmium dust, which was originally set forth by American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
• Search all available preambles to final rules.

• Standards Improvement Project-Phase II; Final Rule. Final Rules 70:1111-1144, (2005, January 5). Revises or removes a number of health provisions in its standards for general industry, shipyard employment, and construction that are outdated, duplicative, unnecessary, or inconsistent. For example: OSHA removes the requirement for a physician to sign a medical opinion regarding whether an employee may continue to work in cadmium-exposed jobs from the cadmium standards 29 CFR 1910.1027, 29 CFR 1915.1027, and 29 CFR 1926.1127.
• Occupational Safety and Health Standards for Cadmium in Shipyard Employment and Construction. Final Rules 59:146-215, (1994, January 3). Corrects an error in the final rule, which appeared in the Federal Register on July 1, 1993, and had the effect of mistakenly inferring that the cadmium standard for shipyard employment from the Code of Federal Regulations was being deleted though the preamble made it clear it was retained. OSHA has redesignated the cadmium standard for construction employment. The redesignation merged it in with the newly created subpart that contains specific toxic substance standards for construction.
• Employee exposure to Cadmium. Final Rules 57:42389, (1992, September 14). Discusses the events that lead to the development of the proposal, cadmium's physical properties, manufacture and use, the health effects associated with exposure to cadmium, and the degree and the significance of the risk.
• Search all available Federal Registers on cadmium.

• Recordkeeping Policies and Procedures Manual. CPL 02-00-135, (2004, December 30). Creates a recordkeeping manual for the rule that assembles recordkeeping compliance policies and procedures from several existing OSHA Instructions. Recording Criteria for Cases Involving Medical Removal. The employer is required to record the case on the OSHA 300 Log if an employee is medically removed under the medical surveillance requirements of an OSHA standard. Currently the medical surveillance requirements of OSHA's Cadmium standards [General industry standard (29 CFR 1910.1027(l)); Shipyard standard (29 CFR 1915.1027); and Construction standard (29 CFR 1926.1127)] have medical removal requirements.
• Search all available directives on cadmium.

• The PEL for cadmium at dry color formulator operations. (1999, October 15).
• Abrasive blasting monitoring requirements and sampling procedures. (1999, August 13).
• Low urinary creatinine levels. (1996, March 5).
• Medical surveillance provision of the Cadmium standard for previously exposed employees. (1994, October 19).
• Labeling, training and material safety data sheet and the Hazard Communication standard. (1994, October 6).
• Interpretation on the Cadmium Standard with Respect to Interpreting Air Sampling Data for Establishing Acceptable Work Areas For Medically Removed Workers. (1994, August 11).
• Cadmium biological monitoring. (1994, June 15).
• Labeling required if the content of cadmium is 0.1 percent or greater. (1994, April 26).
• Search all available standard interpretations on cadmium.