Maintenance, Safeguards, and Operational Features for Exit Routes
This section includes the safe use of Exit routes during an emergency, lighting and marking Exit routes, fire retardant paints, Exit routes during construction, repairs, or alterations, and employee alarm systems.
[PROVIDED WITHOUT WARRANTY - VISIT OSHA.GOV]
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An exit route is a continuous and unobstructed path of exit travel from any point within a workplace to a place of safety. An exit route consists of three parts:
- Exit access - portion of an exit route that leads to an exit.
- Exit - portion of an exit route that is generally separated from other areas to provide a protected way of travel to the exit discharge.
- Exit discharge - part of the exit route that leads directly outside or to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or open space with access to the outside.
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Danger
to Employees |
Exit
routes must be kept free of explosive or highly
flammable furnishings or other decorations. 1910.37(a)(1)
Exit routes must be arranged so that employees will
not have to travel toward a high hazard area, unless
the path of travel is effectively shielded from
the high hazard area by suitable partitions or other
physical barriers. 1910.37(a)(2)
Exit routes must be free and unobstructed. No materials
or equipment may be placed, either permanently or
temporarily, within the exit route. The exit access
must not go through a room that can be locked, such
as a bathroom, to reach an exit or exit discharge,
nor may it lead into a dead-end corridor. Stairs
or a ramp must be provided where the exit route
is not substantially level. 1910.37(a)(3)
Safeguards designed to protect employees during
an emergency (such as sprinkler systems, alarm systems,
fire doors, exit lighting) must be in proper working
order at all times. 1910.37(a)(4)
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Each
exit route must be adequately lighted so that an
employee with normal vision can see along the exit
route. 1910.37(b)(1)
Each exit must be clearly visible and marked by
a sign reading "Exit." 1910.37(b)(2)
Each exit route door must be free of decorations
or signs that obscure the visibility of the exit
route door. 1910.37(b)(3)
If the direction of travel to the exit or exit discharge
is not immediately apparent, signs must be posted
along the exit access indicating the direction of
travel to the nearest exit and exit discharge. Additionally,
the line-of-sight to an exit sign must clearly be
visible at all times. 1910.37(b)(4)
Each doorway or passage along an exit access that
could be mistaken for an exit (such as a closet)
must be marked "Not an Exit" or similar
designation, or be identified by a sign indicating
its actual use. 1910.37(b)(5)
Each exit sign must be illuminated to a surface
value of at least five foot-candles (54 lux) by
a reliable light source and be distinctive in color.
Self-luminous or electroluminescent signs that have
a minimum luminance surface value of at least .06
footlamberts (0.21 cd/m2) are permitted. 1910.37(b)(6)
Each exit sign must have the word "Exit"
in plainly legible letters not less than six inches
(15.2 cm) high, with the principal strokes of the
letters in the word "Exit" not less than
three-fourths of an inch (1.9 cm) wide. 1910.37(b)(7)
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Fire
Retardant Properties of Paints or Solutions |
Fire
retardant paints or solutions must be renewed as
often as necessary to maintain their fire retardant
properties. 1910.37(c)
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Exit
Route Maintenance During Construction, Repairs,
or Alterations |
During
new construction, employees must not occupy a workplace
until the exit routes required by this subpart are
completed and ready for employee use for the portion
of the workplace they occupy. 1910.37(d)(1)
During repairs or alterations, employees must not
occupy a workplace unless the exit routes required
by this subpart are available and existing fire
protections are maintained, or until alternate fire
protection is furnished that provides an equivalent
level of safety. 1910.37(d)(2)
Employees must not be exposed to hazards of flammable
or explosive substances or equipment used during
construction, repairs, or alterations, that are
beyond the normal permissible conditions in the
workplace, or that would impede exiting the workplace.
1910.37(d)(3)
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Employers
must install and maintain an operable employee alarm
system that has a distinctive signal to warn employees
of fire or other emergencies, unless employees can
promptly see or smell a fire or other hazard in
time to provide adequate warning to them. The employee
alarm system must comply with 1910.165.
1910.37(e)
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