Site Size and Lighting

OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.142 provides some general requirements for temporary workplace site size and lighting. Sites must be "adequate in size to prevent overcrowding of necessary structures." Additionally, shelters within the camp must be built in a way that provides protection against all elements. Open areas surrounding all shelters must be clean, maintained, and "free from rubbish or debris."

The requirements for lighting fixtures are as follows:

• If there is available electric service, then each habitable room in a camp must have a minimum of one light fixture on the ceiling and one floor or wall outlet. (The standard does not define habitable room.)
• Laundry rooms, toilet rooms, and other rooms "where people congregate" must have a minimum of one light fixture on the ceiling and one floor or wall outlet.

Lighting level requirements are based on a measurement called foot-candles. Merriam Webster Dictionary defines foot-candles as "a unit of illuminance on a surface that is everywhere one foot from a uniform point source of light of one candle and equal to one lumen per square foot." Different rooms have different foot-candle requirements: consult the standard for specifications.

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