29 CFR § 1960.16 - Compliance with OSHA standards.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t29/s1960.16"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "29 CFR § 1960.16 - Compliance with OSHA standards."
title_number: 29
title_name: "Labor"
section_number: "1960.16"
section_name: "Compliance with OSHA standards."
chapter_name: "OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"
part_number: "1960"
part_name: "BASIC PROGRAM ELEMENTS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAMS AND RELATED MATTERS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "Sections 19 and 24 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1609, 1614; 29 U.S.C. 668, 673), 5 U.S.C. 553, Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-90 (55 FR 9033), and Executive Order 12196."
regulatory_source: "45 FR 69798, Oct. 21, 1980, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "1960"
---


# 1960.16 Compliance with OSHA standards.

Each agency head shall comply with all occupational safety and health standards issued under section 6 of the Act, or with alternate standards issued pursuant to this subpart. In complying with section 6 standards, an agency may, upon prior notification to the Secretary, prescribe and enforce more stringent permissible exposure levels or threshold limit values and may require more frequent monitoring of exposures without recourse to the approval procedures for alternate standards described in § 1960.17. In addition, after consultation with employees and safety and health committees and prior notification to the Secretary, an agency may utilize the latest edition of a reference standard if it is more stringent than the section 6 standard. After notification, the Secretary may require the use of the approval procedures for alternate standards for any of the situations described in this paragraph.