The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) works to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for all by setting standards and providing training, outreach, education, and assistance.
OSHA has created a set of required guidelines for organizations to follow when creating emergency exit routes. For your team’s safety, it’s crucial to understand exit routes, how many your building should have, and how to communicate the OSHA exit route requirements to your employees.
Let’s explore each of these topics and discuss how Building Maps can help you quickly and clearly communicate OSHA exit routes with accurate, easy-to-read evacuation maps.
What Is an Exit Route?
According to OSHA, an exit route is “a continuous and unobstructed path of exit travel from any point within a workplace to a place of safety.” There are three components of an exit route:
- Exit access: this portion of the exit route directs you to the exit.
- Exit: provides a protected way of travel to the exit discharge.
- Exit discharge: leads directly outside of the building, to a refuge area, or to an open space with access to the outside.
How Many Exit Routes Should a Workplace Have?
In most cases, a workplace must have at least two different emergency exit routes. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule for workplaces with:
- An unusually large number of employees.
- A building that is an unusual size or shape.
- Arrangements that detract from safe evacuation.
Conversely, one exit is sometimes permitted if the building is deemed to have a small number of occupants, small in size, simple in shape, and a safe workplace arrangement.
What Are the OSHA Exit Route Requirements?
OSHA requires that exits are separated by fire-resistant materials. For example, emergency exit stairwells of three or fewer stories must have a one-hour fire-resistance rating. Also, buildings with more than three stories should have emergency exit stairwells with a two-hour fire-resistance rating.
Additionally, OSHA has adopted a set of guidelines for maintaining emergency exit routes. These rules include but are not limited to:
- Exit routes must be unobstructed by materials, equipment, locked doors, or dead-end corridors.
- Adequate lighting for exit routes must be provided.
- All exits should be properly labeled as “EXIT” in plainly legible lettering.
- Exit doors must be free of decorations, posters, or other flammable furnishings.
For more information on OSHA emergency exit route requirements, read this OSHA fact sheet.
Be Proactive and Prepared with Evacuation Maps
The best way to save lives during an emergency is to be proactive and stay prepared. Once you have established your exit routes in accordance with OSHA’s requirements, you need to make sure your employees confidently know how to evacuate in the event of an emergency.
This is where Building Maps is ready to help. Our team of safety experts and professional illustrators understand safety protocols, emergency best practices, fire codes, and OSHA exit route requirements. With over a decade of experience, we dedicate ourselves to creating high quality, easy-to-follow, and code-compliant emergency plans.
Contact us to begin discussing your safety map needs. You can even send us your existing maps or blueprints, and we will create safe, clean, properly oriented evacuation maps for your buildings. Afterward, you can begin using your maps during training events so you can guide your people to safety at times when every second counts.
Make a Plan, Create a Map, and Save Lives
Building Maps is the industry leader in fire evacuation and security mapping illustration and services. Now that you have a better understanding of OSHA exit route requirements, take the next step by creating a safety map for your team. Contact us to request a quote today!
More Information About OSHA Exit Route Requirements
OSHA Fact Sheet: Emergency Exit Routes
OSHA Standard 1910.36: Design and Construction Requirements for Exit Routes
OSHA Standard 1910.37: Maintenance, Safeguards, and Operational Features for Exit Routes
About the Author: Tony Jones, CFPS, is the owner and founder of Building Maps. He is a fire evacuation mapping and code compliance expert. Tony holds his work to the highest standard because he knows “it’s not just a map, it’s about saving lives.”
