The International Association of Drilling Contractors asked OSHA to confirm that the recordkeeping regulations in 29 CFR Part 1904 do not apply to foreign-flag vessels — in particular, mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) operating on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf or in U.S. territorial waters.
OSHA confirmed that the Occupational Safety and Health Act does not extend to operators of foreign-flag MODUs operating on the OCS or United States territorial waters with respect to their crews. The agency grounded this in the Supreme Court's McCulloch v. Sociedad Nacional de Marineros de Honduras decision, which held that neither the statutory text nor the legislative history of U.S. labor acts expressly covered foreign-flag vessels.
Under international law principles, the flag state's law governs a ship's internal affairs, not the law of the jurisdiction where the vessel happens to operate. Because the OSH Act lacks express application to foreign-flagged vessels, OSHA construes it consistently with those international law principles — meaning injury and illness recordkeeping under Part 1904 (including 29 CFR 1904.7(b)(3)) doesn't reach foreign-flag MODU crews.