Federal & State Regulations | Illumination (general industry) - Minnesota

Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MNOSHA) operates a state plan that includes requirements beyond what is required by federal OSHA. MNOSHA’s standards call for the following minimum levels of illumination for various workspaces:

Illumination by daylight or artificial light must be supplied in traversed spaces such as hallways, roadways, etc., during working hours and for work when attended by operators. The table below shows minimum levels of illumination required in all places of employment in Minnesota.

Illumination in traversed spaces
	Recommended minimum foot-candles
Roadways, yard thoroughfares	2-1
Storage spaces, aisles and passageways in workrooms, excepting exits and passageways leading thereto	3-2
Spaces such as stairways, hallways, exits and passages leading thereto	5-3
Spaces such as locker rooms, washrooms, toilet rooms, and passageways where there are exposed moving machines, hot pipes, or live electric parts	6-4

Illumination at the working place
	Recommended minimum foot-candles
Where discrimination of detail is not essential, such as handling material of a coarse nature, grinding clay products, rough sorting, coal and ash handling, foundry charging	5-3
Where slight discrimination of detail is essential, such as rough machining, rough assembling, rough bench work, rough forging, grain milling	10-5
Where moderate discrimination of detail is essential, such as machining, assembly work, bench work, fine core making in foundries	30
Where close discrimination of detail is essential, such as fine lathe work, pattern making, tool making, weaving or sewing light-colored silk or woolen textiles, office-work, accounting, typewriting	50
Where discrimination of minute detail is essential, such as drafting, weaving or sewing dark colored material, very fine inspection or inspection of very dark goods	100-25

The rule also notes the following:

Levels of illumination may be required above the minimum in certain cases, such as when workers are elderly or have defective eyesight;
Conditions may vary at workplaces such that the same process performed at one location may require greater illumination than another;
Minimum values apply to the lighting system under ordinary use (not just when lamps/reflectors are new and clean);
MNOSHA may order employers to provide higher levels of illumination than the minimum listed.

Related information

Lighting - ezExplanation

Citations

Minn. Admin. Rule 5205.0120 – Minimum levels of illumination
29 USC 654 — Duties of employers and employees (General Duty Clause)

['Industrial Hygiene']

['Lighting', 'Industrial Hygiene']

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Illumination (general industry) - Minnesota

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Citations