Are there any requirements regarding hair becoming entangled in machinery?

Federal OSHA does not specifically address this issue in the General Industry regulations. However, an OSHA publication, Safeguarding Equipment and Protecting Workers from Amputations — OSHA 3170 (2001), states the following about long hair while operating grinding machines: “Instruct employees not to wear gloves, jewelry, or loose-fitting clothing while operating grinding machines and to secure long hair in a net or cap.”

Also, in a woodworking eTool OSHA says that “Do not allow workers to wear loose clothing or long hair. Loose clothing or long hair can be easily caught up in rotating parts.”

For safety reasons, many companies develop policies regarding hair length for employees working around specific machines. If you determine that certain lengths of hair can create a job hazard, OSHA would expect you to prohibit it from the workplace. Federal OSHA’s regulations are considered “minimum requirements” and where hazards exist, the employer must do whatever is necessary to reduce or eliminate those hazards. Even though there is no specific regulation for this issue, OSHA could still cite and fine under the General Duty Clause or general machine guarding standard.