(a) General Requirements.
(1) The employer shall ensure that each work area and walkway is adequately lighted whenever an employee is present.
(2) For landside areas, the employer shall provide illumination that meets the levels set forth in Table F-1 to § 1915.82.
Table F-1 to § 1915.82 - Minimum Lighting Intensities in Foot-Candles
| Lumens (foot-candles) |
Area or operation |
|---|---|
| 3 | General areas on vessels and vessel sections such as accessways, exits, gangways, stairs, and walkways. |
| 5 | General landside areas such as corridors, exits, stairs, and walkways. |
| 5 | All assigned work areas on any vessel or vessel section. |
| 5 | Landside tunnels, shafts, vaults, pumping stations, and underground work areas. |
| 10 | Landside work areas such as machine shops, electrical equipment rooms, carpenter shops, lofts, tool rooms, warehouses, and outdoor work areas. |
| 10 | Changing rooms, showers, sewered toilets, and eating, drinking, and break areas. |
| 30 | First aid stations, infirmaries, and offices. |
The required illumination levels in this table do not apply to emergency or portable lights.
(3) For vessels and vessel sections, the employer shall provide illumination that meets the levels set forth in the table to paragraph (a)(2) or meet ANSI/IESNA RP-7-01 (incorporated by reference, see 1915.5).
(4) When adequate illumination is not obtainable by permanent lighting sources, temporary lighting may be used as supplementation.
(5) The employer shall ensure that neither matches nor open-flame devices are used for lighting.
(b) Temporary lights. The employer shall ensure that temporary lights meet the following requirements:
(1) Lights with bulbs that are not completely recessed are equipped with guards to prevent accidental contact with the bulb;
(2) Lights are equipped with electric cords designed with sufficient capacity to safely carry the electric load;
(3) Connections and insulation on electric cords are maintained in a safe condition;
(4) Lights and lighting stringers are not suspended solely by their electric cords unless they are designed by the manufacturer to be suspended in this way;
(5) Lighting stringers do not overload branch circuits;
(6) Branch circuits are equipped with over-current protection with a capacity that does not exceed the rated current-carrying capacity of the cord used;
(7) Splices have insulation with a capacity that exceeds that of the original insulation of the cord; and
(8) Exposed, non-current-carrying metal parts of lights are grounded. The employer shall ensure that grounding is provided either through a third wire in the cord containing the circuit conductors or through a separate wire that is grounded at the source of the current. Grounding shall be done in accordance with the requirements of 29 CFR 1910, subpart S.
(c) Portable lights.
(1) In any dark area that does not have permanent or temporary lights, where lights are not working, or where lights are not readily accessible, the employer shall provide portable or emergency lights and ensure that employees do not enter those areas without such lights.
(2) Where the only means of illumination on a vessel or vessel section are from lighting sources that are not part of the vessel or vessel section, the employer shall provide portable or emergency lights for the safe movement of each employee. If natural sunlight provides sufficient illumination, portable or emergency lights are not required.
(d) Explosion-proof, self-contained lights. The employer shall provide and ensure that each employee uses only explosion-proof, self-contained temporary and portable lights, approved for hazardous conditions by a nationally recognized testing laboratory (NRTL), in any area that the atmosphere is determined to contain a concentration of flammable vapors that are at or above 10 percent of the lower explosive limit (LEL) as specified in 29 CFR part 1915, subparts B and C.