OSHA Required Posters: What Small Employers Must Post

Short answer: OSHA requires one poster from almost every private employer: “Job Safety and Health: It’s the Law”, posted in each establishment where employees normally see notices (29 CFR 1903.2). It is free from OSHA. If you keep OSHA injury records, the Form 300A summary also goes up from February 1 to April 30. In a State Plan state the state’s poster may replace the federal one. Posters required by other agencies (wage and hour, FMLA, EEOC and so on) are separate obligations. Checked on eCFR, osha.gov and dol.gov on October 10, 2026.

1. The OSHA “It’s the Law” poster (29 CFR 1903.2)

“Each employer shall post and keep posted a notice or notices, to be furnished by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, informing employees of the protections and obligations provided for in the Act … Such notice or notices shall be posted by the employer in each establishment in a conspicuous place or places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Each employer shall take steps to insure that such notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by other material.” — 29 CFR 1903.2(a)(1)

That notice is the Job Safety and Health: It’s the Law poster (English OSHA 3165, Spanish OSHA 3167). The rule has no minimum employee count; a shop with one employee posts it.

Where to put it

• Each establishment, meaning each single physical location where business is conducted (1903.2(b)). Two shops means two posters.
• Where separate activities run from one location, each is treated as a separate establishment.
• For physically dispersed work such as construction and transportation, post it where employees report each day. For employees who do not work at or report to one establishment (traveling technicians, for example), post it where they operate from (1903.2(b)).
• A conspicuous place where notices to employees are customarily posted: the break room or time-clock board, not the owner’s office.

Size, copies and languages

• A printed reproduction counts if it is at least 8½ × 14 inches with print of at least 10 point, and the heading generally at least 36 point (1903.2(a)(3)). Letter-size printouts are too small.
• OSHA’s poster page offers free PDF downloads in English and Spanish (portrait and landscape) and several other languages, and print copies by order. Its instructions: print at 8.5 × 14 or larger, using “Shrink to Fit”, not straight from the browser.
• “Employers do not need to replace previous versions of the poster. It is ok to display an old version of this poster.” (OSHA poster page.)
• OSHA regulations do not require a foreign-language poster, but OSHA encourages employers with Spanish-speaking workers to display the Spanish version too (OSHA poster page).

Electronic posting is not a substitute

In a November 5, 2014 letter of interpretation, OSHA was asked whether OSHA notices shown in rotation on break-room TV monitors would do. Its answer: “The scenario you presented does not meet the requirements of 1903.2(a)(1). Under this standard, OSHA required notices must be readily available and accessible to all employees at all times.” It suggested posting physical copies near the monitor or in another conspicuous place. The Department of Labor’s Workplace Posters page says the same in general terms: “Electronic posting cannot be used as a substitute for physical posting.” We did not find an OSHA statement allowing electronic-only posting of the It’s the Law poster at a physical workplace, so post the paper copy, and add an electronic copy if you like.

Failing to post

An employer who fails to post is “subject to citation and penalty in accordance with the provisions of § 1903.15(d)” (1903.2(d)). We have not quoted a dollar figure here; OSHA’s current amounts are on its penalties page.

2. The OSHA 300A summary: February 1 to April 30

If you are required to keep OSHA injury and illness records, the Form 300A annual summary is a second OSHA posting. It goes up no later than February 1 and stays up until April 30, in each establishment where notices are customarily posted, even in a year with no recordable cases (29 CFR 1904.32(b)(5)–(6)). For calendar year 2026 that is February 1 to April 30, 2027. Who certifies it and who must also submit it to OSHA is in our guide to the OSHA 300A summary; whether you keep records at all is in do I need an OSHA 300 log?

3. State Plan states have their own poster

“Where a State has an approved poster … such poster, when posted by employers covered by the State plan, shall constitute compliance” with the federal posting requirement (1903.2(a)(2)). Employers whose operations fall outside the issues the State Plan covers still post the federal one. OSHA’s poster page links each state’s version, and our State Plan guide lists which states run their own OSHA programs and what changes for HazCom there.

4. Other federal posters are separate requirements

The OSHA poster covers the OSH Act only. Other federal laws have their own notices, administered by other agencies, and putting up the OSHA poster does not satisfy them. Examples from the Department of Labor’s Workplace Posters page and the EEOC:

Which of these apply depends on the law’s own coverage rules (size, industry, federal contracts), not on OSHA’s. The Department of Labor’s free FirstStep Poster Advisor walks you through which DOL posters apply and links the printable versions; it covers federal DOL posters only, so check your state labor department for state notices.

5. A one-minute posting check

• ☐ OSHA “It’s the Law” poster (or your State Plan’s version) at each location, at least 8½ × 14 inches, uncovered.
• ☐ Crews that report to a yard or office: poster where they report each day.
• ☐ If you keep OSHA records: the certified 300A up February 1 to April 30.
• ☐ Spanish version alongside, if your workers read Spanish (encouraged, not required).
• ☐ DOL and EEOC posters checked with the FirstStep Poster Advisor; state posters checked with your state.

Posters are the easy part of an OSHA visit. The paperwork inspectors ask about most in general industry is Hazard Communication: the written program, training records and access to safety data sheets. See what an OSHA inspector checks for HazCom.

Sources (checked October 10, 2026)

• eCFR, 29 CFR 1903.2 — posting of notice: (a)(1) post in each establishment, (a)(2) State Plan posters, (a)(3) 8½ × 14 inch / 10 point reproductions, (b) establishment and dispersed work, (d) citation and penalty. eCFR Title 29 up to date as of October 7, 2026.
• OSHA, Job Safety and Health Workplace Poster — free from OSHA, do not pay a vendor, old versions acceptable, downloads and languages, State Plan versions.
• OSHA letter of interpretation, November 5, 2014 — notices looped on monitors do not meet 1903.2(a)(1).
• eCFR, 29 CFR 1904.32 — 300A posting February 1 to April 30, at (b)(5)–(6).
• U.S. Department of Labor, Workplace Posters — DOL poster requirements by law; “Electronic posting cannot be used as a substitute for physical posting.”
• DOL elaws FirstStep Poster Advisor — free tool for federal DOL poster requirements.
• EEOC, “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” Poster — the EEOC’s separate posting requirement.

Educational information, not legal advice. Quotations are from the current text of 29 CFR 1903.2 and 1904.32 on eCFR and from osha.gov, dol.gov and eeoc.gov, all checked October 10, 2026. State and local posting rules vary; check your state, and confirm anything that matters for your business against the source.