• Employers must conduct regular inspections of their aisles and walkways.

Inspections must be conducted regularly and as necessary. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uses a performance-based approach instead of mandating inspection frequency. This allows employers some flexibility to establish a schedule of how often inspections need to be done given circumstances and variables in the workplace. Although not required by OSHA, many employers find checklists helpful to ensure that critical compliance requirements and other items are not overlooked.

The term regularly means the employer has a schedule, formal or informal, for inspecting the aisles and walkways that is adequate to identify hazards. Once a frequency is determined, OSHA expects inspections to be conducted per that frequency.

Subpart D also requires employers to conduct inspections as necessary. This means they must be done when workplace conditions, circumstances, or events occur that warrant an additional check of the aisles/walkways to ensure they are safe for use.

Finally, OSHA requires that if a deficiency is found that repairs must be made before employees are allowed to use the aisle or walkway.