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Toolbox talk · 10 min · Housekeeping & General

Jobsite Lighting and Exit Routes

Hazards: Falls into unlit floor openings, shafts and excavations · Struck by equipment whose operator cannot see a worker on foot · Trips over material and cords in poorly lit passageways · Delayed or blocked evacuation when exits are dark, unmarked or obstructed · Electric shock and burns from damaged or improperly hung temporary lights

Why it matters

On July 17, 2023, at 7:30 in the evening, a demolition worker was moving asbestos material down from the 9th floor by freight elevator. His crew went looking for him and found him at the bottom of the shaft (OSHA Summary Nr 158154.015 — keywords: lighting, poor visibility). In September 2024 an operator ran over a worker on foot in a poorly lit building; the OSHA abstract says twice that he could not see him (Nr 170443.015). In fiscal 2025, Federal OSHA cited the construction lighting standard once. Nobody is coming to check. We are.

Key points

  • There is a legal minimum, and it is low. Table D-3 of 1926.56: 5 foot-candles general construction lighting, 3 in excavations, accessways and active storage, 5 indoors in corridors and exitways, 10 in shops, 30 in first aid stations and offices.
  • The way out stays open, always. 1926.34(a) and (c): free and unobstructed egress at all times when the structure is occupied, continually maintained for full instant use. No lock that stops escape from the inside.
  • If the exit is not obvious, it gets a sign. 1926.34(b) requires a readily visible sign at the exit and along the way to it wherever the route is not immediately visible. In an occupied building, 1910.37(b)(6) puts 5 foot-candles on the sign itself.
  • Guard the lamp, don't hang it by the cord. 1926.405(a)(2)(ii)(E) and (F): general-illumination lamps protected from contact and breakage, and no light suspended by its cord unless it was built for it.
  • Wet or conductive spaces: 12 volts, or GFCI. 1926.405(a)(2)(ii)(G) for drums, tanks and vessels. And keep tool receptacles off the lighting circuit — (C).
  • Dark and moving equipment do not mix. Make yourself seen, make eye contact, and stop the task rather than walk a route the operator cannot see.

Do / Don't

Do

  • Light the route in before you light the work area — stairs, ramps and openings first.
  • Carry a personal light in any interior work, even on a day shift.
  • Report a broken or missing temporary light the same shift.
  • Keep floor openings covered and marked whether or not there is light on them.

Don't

  • Work past dusk in a space that was only ever lit by daylight.
  • Store material, cords or debris in a stairway or an exit route.
  • Chain, block or wedge an exit door for security or for dust.
  • Use a lamp with a broken guard or a cracked lens.

Quick site check

  • Walk the exit route from the deepest point of the work back out: is it clear, marked and lit the whole way?
  • Count the temporary lights that are out, broken or hung by their cords, and write the list down.
  • Stand where the interior work will be at 6 p.m. and decide now whether the light gets added or the task moves.
Discussion — ask the crew
  1. Which part of this building are we working in that gets dark before we stop working?
  2. If the power dropped right now, could each of us find the way out of where we are standing?
  3. Where is material or debris sitting in a stairway or an exit route today?
  4. Who has walked past a broken or missing temporary light and left it for the electrician?
  5. Which operators on this site cannot see us in the dark, and how are we making ourselves visible to them?
Refs: 29 CFR 1926.56 — Illumination: (a) minimum intensities of Table D-3 while any work is in progress; (b) other areas refer to ANSI A11.1-1965, R1970 · 29 CFR 1926.34 — Means of egress: (a) free and unobstructed egress at all times when occupied, no fastening preventing escape from the inside; (b) exits marked by a readily visible sign; (c) continually maintained free of obstructions to full instant use · 29 CFR 1926.405(a)(2)(ii) — Temporary wiring: (C) no other-use receptacles on temporary lighting branch circuits; (E) lamps for general illumination protected from accidental contact or breakage; (F) lights not suspended by their cords; (G) 12 V or GFCI in wet and conductive locations · 29 CFR 1910.37 — Exit routes in general industry: (b)(6) exit signs illuminated to at least five foot-candles; (d) exit routes maintained during construction, repairs or alterations of an occupied workplace · OSHA Accident Search — Summary Nr 158154.015, event date 07/17/2023: a demolition worker was hauling asbestos-containing material down from the 9th floor by freight elevator at 7:30 p.m.; coworkers could not find him and later found him dead at the bottom of the shaft. The OSHA record keywords include lighting and poor visibility · OSHA Accident Search — Summary Nr 170443.015, event date 09/23/2024: a worker walking through a poorly lit building was struck and run over by a forklift; the OSHA abstract states twice that the operator did not see him because of the inadequate lighting in the area · OSHA Accident Search — Summary Nr 120388.015, event date 09/25/2019: at 5:45 a.m., while it was still dark, a worker walking near a trash bin tripped over a pallet left in her path, broke her femur and was hospitalizedSign-in sheet included in the printed version

Frequently asked questions

1926.56(a) requires construction areas, ramps, runways, corridors, offices, shops and storage areas to be lighted to at least these minimums in foot-candles while any work is in progress: 5 for general construction area lighting; 3 for general construction areas, concrete placement, excavation and waste areas, accessways, active storage areas, loading platforms, refueling and field maintenance areas; 5 indoors for warehouses, corridors, hallways and exitways; 5 for tunnels, shafts and general underground work areas, with a minimum of 10 at the tunnel or shaft heading during drilling, mucking and scaling; 10 for general construction plant and shops; and 30 for first aid stations, infirmaries and offices.

No — and that is the point worth making to a crew. Those are floor minimums for being able to move and work at all, not levels anybody would choose for detailed work. For areas or operations Table D-3 does not cover, 1926.56(b) points to ANSI A11.1-1965, R1970, Practice for Industrial Lighting, for recommended values. The standard sets the floor; the task sets what you really need.

Rarely, and that is exactly why it is worth a talk. In fiscal year 2025, Federal OSHA issued a single citation of 1926.56 to specialty trade contractors nationwide, and four of 1926.34. Nobody is going to write you up for a dark corridor. The dark corridor will still be there when somebody walks into a shaft.

1926.34(a) requires exits to be arranged and maintained to provide free and unobstructed egress from all parts of the structure at all times when it is occupied, and prohibits any lock or fastening that prevents free escape from the inside. (b) requires exits to be marked by a readily visible sign, and access to exits to be marked wherever the exit or the way to reach it is not immediately visible. (c) requires means of egress to be continually maintained free of all obstructions or impediments to full instant use.

Yes, and it catches people out. 1910.37(d) applies to the workplace you are working in: during new construction employees must not occupy a workplace until the required exit routes are complete and ready for use, and during repairs or alterations employees must not occupy it unless the required exit routes are available and existing fire protections are maintained, or equivalent alternate protection is furnished. 1910.37(b)(6) also requires each exit sign to be illuminated to at least five foot-candles by a reliable light source.

1926.405(a)(2)(ii) sets them. (E): all lamps for general illumination shall be protected from accidental contact or breakage, and metal-case sockets shall be grounded. (F): temporary lights shall not be suspended by their electric cords unless the cords and lights are designed for that. (G): portable lighting used in wet or other conductive locations — drums, tanks, vessels — shall run at 12 volts or less, or at 120 volts if protected by a GFCI.

Not into a receptacle installed on it. 1926.405(a)(2)(ii)(C) says receptacles for uses other than temporary lighting shall not be installed on branch circuits which supply temporary lighting, and shall not be connected to the same ungrounded conductor of multiwire circuits supplying temporary lighting. A tripped breaker should not take the lights out with it.

The competent person on site, under 1926.20(b)(2), and the answer has to be honest. If a task needs a headlamp to be done at all, the area does not meet Table D-3, and the choice is to add light, move the task to daylight, or stop it. A demolition worker died in a freight elevator shaft at 7:30 in the evening in OSHA Summary Nr 158154.015; the record lists lighting and poor visibility among its keywords.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.

Results are estimates for planning purposes and do not replace a competent person's evaluation or an engineer's design. Follow the OSHA standards that apply to your work and your employer's written program.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated