DAFMAN 91-203 vs. 29 CFR 1910: Which One Actually Applies to You?
9 of the 15 DAFMAN 91-203 safety chapters directly implement an OSHA 29 CFR 1910 standard — and on hearing conservation the Air Force is stricter. Here's the chapter-by-chapter crosswalk.
of indexed MAJCOM supplements lag the base instruction they modify.
The short answer
How the two documents relate
The chapter-by-chapter crosswalk
Where the Air Force is stricter than OSHA
How to cite the controlling standard
FAQ
The short answer
Both apply — but DAFMAN 91-203 is the controlling document on an Air Force installation.
It adopts the OSHA 29 CFR 1910 standards almost wholesale, then adds Air Force-specific requirements on top. Where the two ever differ, the more protective requirement wins, and that is usually the Air Force one.
How the two documents relate
29 CFR 1910 is OSHA's General Industry standard — the federal floor for civilian workplaces.
DAFMAN 91-203, Air Force Occupational Safety, Fire, and Health Standards, is how the Air Force implements that floor on its own installations, where OSHA's civilian enforcement reach is limited. The manual restates the OSHA requirement, points to the AF program office that owns it, and layers mission-specific controls (flightline noise, fuel-cell confined spaces, hot-work fire watches).
So the relationship is implements, not replaces. When a chapter says it implements a 1910 standard, the underlying OSHA citation is still the technical authority for the what; the DAFMAN tells you the Air Force how.
The chapter-by-chapter crosswalk
This is the part nobody publishes in one place. Of the safety chapters we map, the relationships break down like this:
DAFMAN 91-203 chapters by relationship to their 29 CFR 1910 counterpart.
The full, sortable table — every chapter, its OSHA subpart, and whether the AF adopts, exceeds, or merely parallels it — lives on the OSHA Cross-Reference page. Use it when you need to cite the controlling standard in a finding.
Where the Air Force is stricter than OSHA
The clearest example is hearing conservation. OSHA 1910.95 sets an 85 dBA action level and a 90 dBA permissible exposure limit. The Air Force runs a more protective program driven by flightline realities — enrollment is broader than the OSHA baseline would require.
That's why "which applies" is the wrong question. The protective requirement applies. On hearing conservation, lockout/tagout documentation, and hot-work permits, that's the Air Force standard.
How to cite the controlling standard
Write the finding to DAFMAN 91-203, chapter and paragraph. In parentheses, name the implemented 29 CFR 1910 standard. That gives the unit both the directive they're accountable to and the federal standard behind it — and it survives a challenge.
Frequently asked questions
- Does OSHA inspect Air Force installations?
- OSHA's direct enforcement authority over federal military workplaces is limited; the Air Force self-implements 29 CFR 1910 through DAFMAN 91-203 and inspects to it internally. The OSHA standard is still the technical basis.
- If DAFMAN 91-203 and OSHA differ, which wins?
- The more protective requirement controls. In practice that is usually the Air Force requirement, because the manual adds mission-specific controls on top of the OSHA floor.
- Is DAFMAN 91-203 the same as the old AFMAN 91-203?
- No. AFMAN 91-203 was redesignated DAFMAN 91-203 (Department of the Air Force). The legacy AFMAN edition is superseded — verify you're citing the current DAFMAN.
- Where do I find the exact OSHA paragraph?
- Each chapter on our OSHA Cross-Reference page links straight to the corresponding 29 CFR 1910 standard on osha.gov.