U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration 
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20210 
Office of the Assistant Secretary 
SEP 2 5 1978 
Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson 
Director 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Dear Dr. Fredrickson: 
This is in response to your request for Comments on the 
Recombinant DNA Research Proposed Revised Guidelines - NIH 
published in the Federal Register VOL. 43, No. 146 - July 28, 
1978. 
The comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 
(the Act) was designed to protect all working men and women, 
including, therefore, those whose employment involves biolog- 
ical research. While the Act covers all working conditions, 
it does not apply to those working conditions addressed by 
regulations issued by other Federal agencies under other Fed- 
eral statutes whose purpose is to provide safety and health 
protection for employees. That exception is contained in 
section 4(b)(1) of the Act. However, section 4(b)(1) would 
not be involved in the case of the Guidelines, since they are 
not regulations promulgated under a statute whose specific 
purpose is to protect workers. 
Federal, state and local governments are not defined as 
"employers" under the Act, and therefore, their employees are 
not covered. However, States operating under state legisla- 
tion and enforcement plans approved by OSHA under section 18 
of the Act, must, as a condition of such approval, cover 
State and local employees under the State plan. There are 
currently 23 States operating under such plans. In the 
remaining States, the guidelines perform an especially impor- 
tant function in protecting public employees in NIH-funded 
State institutions. For your further information, if an 
exempted State institution enters into a contract with a 
private employer to perform work for the State, that private 
employer is, of course, covered by the Act on the same basis 
as any covered employer. 
CA-364] 
