Did you know you should have a public space safety plan?
Did you know that employers should have a public space safety program? Visitors can create workplace safety hazards that require your attention. Here are several topics that to evaluate in your workplace:
- Who are visitors,
- What are public spaces,
- What hazards do visitors create, and
- How to mitigate hazards?
OSHA doesn’t directly address visitor safety in its standards. The Agency addresses some best practices concerning their safety, like using PPE in some situations and how to respond to emergencies, but employers don’t have any duty under OSHA’s standards to protect visitors. Your state’s laws may create a duty to do so, but this is best discussed with a legal professional.
Who are visitors?
A visitor can be anyone who typically doesn’t work at your workplace. Visitors might include:
- Vendors,
- Contractors,
- Delivery drivers,
- The public,
- Workers from a different facility, or
- Regulatory agencies.
Vendors, delivery drivers, and the public pose the most significant hazards to workers while inside public spaces in your workplace. For example, a vendor delivering fuel is bringing flammable liquids into your workplace that is a potential fire hazard. Visiting workers are covered under OSHA’s standards because they’re employees of the company. Some standards, like 1910.146, place duties upon a host employer when a contractor works inside a permit-required confined space.
Remember that even if OSHA is at your workplace, the compliance officer needs to follow your workplace’s health and safety plan. OSHA inspectors aren’t immune from OSHA’s health and safety standards.
What are public spaces?
Public spaces in the workplace have varying levels of accessibility to visitors. Visitors are usually given varying access levels depending on the space’s use, such as a retail shop, lobby, tour areas, work area, office, etc. They shouldn’t roam about as they could in a public space like a park or beach. Evaluate your work area and identify what public spaces exist and where visitors will be permitted.
What hazards do visitors create?
When interacting with visitors, workers are exposed to any hazard created by the visit, such as:
- Biological hazards like bacteria, viruses, or bloodborne pathogens;
- Workplace violence;
- Physical or operational hazards while escorting visitors; or
- Evacuation challenges..
These are all safety issues that an employer should already address to protect their workers. Add a section to your emergency action plan addressing visitors.
How to mitigate hazards?
You don’t need a separate budget to protect visitors. Because workers could be anywhere in your workplace, even in public spaces, following OSHA’s safety requirements can simultaneously protect visitors.
Local building codes, like the Uniform Fire Code and the Uniform Building Code, regulate life safety hazards in occupied structures such as:
- Building occupancy limits,
- Use of open flames, and
- Availability of fire extinguishers.
Here are safety tips to include in your public space safety plan:
- Maintain 50 feet of unobstructed egress between the public area and the nearest exit.
- Avoid blocking emergency exits.
- Mark all exits, which local codes usually require a lighted exit sign.
- Ensure emergency exit doors have push bars, not doorknobs.
- Provide fire protection systems, like sprinklers, which are required in many new construction buildings and are often required as retrofits.
- Test and regularly maintain fire alarms.
- Install emergency lighting in all evacuation routes.
- Develop an accountability plan for visitors in case of emergency evacuation
These safety tips are requirements employers must already have for workers under OSHA’s life-safety requirements.
Key to remember
Visitors can expose your workers to hazards. Identify who might visit your workplace, what hazards can be created, and how to mitigate your workers’ exposure.
