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OSHA requires employers to provide standard stairs to allow workers to travel from one walking-working surface to another. The existing and final rules both recognize that standard stairs are the principal means of providing safe access in workplaces and employers must provide them when operations necessitate “regular and routine travel between levels,” including accessing operating platforms to use or operate equipment.
The regular and routine travel term includes, but is not limited to, access to different levels of the workplace daily or during each shift so workers can conduct regular work operations, as well as operations for such purposes as gauging, inspection, regular maintenance, etc. Regular and routine also includes access necessary to perform routine activities or tasks performed on a scheduled or periodic, albeit not daily, basis, particularly if the tasks may expose employees to acids, caustics, gases, or other harmful substances, or require workers to manually carry heavy or bulky materials, tools, or equipment