Cite as: 521 U. S. 424 (1997)
Opinion of Ginsburg, J.
itoring claim would be limited to the incremental cost of tests a reasonable physician would recommend as a result of the plaintiff's exposure. See 79 F. 3d, at 1347.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations governing permissible levels of asbestos exposure in the workplace make it plain that medical monitoring is no "trivial" matter, see ante, at 444; the regulations are instructive on appropriate standards for necessary monitoring, see 29 CFR § 1910.1001 (1996); see also 29 U. S. C. § 655(b)(7) (authorizing Secretary of Labor to require employers to provide medical monitoring to employees exposed to hazardous substances). OSHA's regulations direct employers to provide medical monitoring for employees exposed to certain levels of asbestos, and they describe in detail the monitoring employers must make available. See 29 CFR § 1910.1001(l), App. D, App. E (1996). These regulations apply to all industries covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Act). Although the Act does not apply to state public employers such as Metro-North, see 29 U. S. C. § 652(5), New York State has adopted OSHA standards for its public employers, see N. Y. Lab. Law §§ 27- a(3)(c), (4)(a) (McKinney 1986 and Supp. 1997). Had Metro-North assiduously attended to those standards, Buckley might have been spared the costs he now seeks to recover.3
Finally, the Court's anticipation of a " 'flood' of less important cases" and " 'unlimited and unpredictable liability' " is overblown. See ante, at 442. The employee's "injury" in the claim at stake is the economic burden additional medical
3 Buckley's counsel stated at oral argument that the railroad failed to conduct the required monitoring of airborne asbestos in the steam tunnels, and for that reason only, Metro-North escaped compliance with the requirement that employers provide ongoing medical monitoring of employees. Tr. of Oral Arg. 52. The record supports Buckley's assertion that Metro-North did not properly monitor the level of asbestos to which its workers were exposed. See App. 606-607 (noting that in 1986 the New York Department of Labor cited Metro-North for asbestos-related violations, including failure to monitor accurately the airborne concentrations of asbestos).
453
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