Exit route clearances are among the first things an OSHA compliance officer can measure on a gym floor, and they are among the easiest things for a busy facility to lose. A pallet of plates parked beside a corridor, a studio bike moved out during a floor repair, or a stack of boxed treadmills waiting for an install crew can each narrow the path an employee would use to leave the building.
- What exit route clearances require under OSHA
- Where equipment on a training floor narrows the route
- Exit route clearances during a retrofit or repair
- Employee routes and member egress are separate reviews
- A seven-step floor check
- A worked example, with assumptions stated
- Records and warning signs
- Does OSHA set an exit route width for members?
- Can equipment be staged in a corridor overnight?
- What should a facility keep after a route check?
The federal rules are short, specific and dimensional. The dimensional requirements sit in two standards, 29 CFR 1910.36 and 29 CFR 1910.37, and they govern the routes employees use, while a third, 29 CFR 1910.35, lets an employer that demonstrates compliance with the exit-route provisions of NFPA 101-2009 or the 2009 International Fire Code be deemed in compliance with the corresponding requirements. They are not the code that sets member egress widths for a fire marshal. Knowing which rule governs which measurement is much of the work.
What exit route clearances require under OSHA
OSHA’s design standard, 29 CFR 1910.36, fixes the minimum dimensions. Exit access must be at least 28 inches (71.1 cm) wide at all points under 1910.36(g)(2). Ceilings along an exit route must be at least 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 m) high, and projections from the ceiling must not reach lower than 6 feet 8 inches (2.0 m) from the floor, under 1910.36(g)(1).
The clause that catches equipment is 1910.36(g)(4), which states that “Objects that project into the exit route must not reduce the width” below those minimums. A rack that fits the drawing can still put the route out of compliance once weight horns, a trash can and a water station are added around it.
Two more design points matter on a training floor. At least two exit routes must be available and located as far apart as practical under 1910.36(b)(1), so that a fire or smoke blocking one leaves the other usable. A single route is permitted only where all employees could evacuate safely through it, under 1910.36(b)(3).
Capacity also may not decrease in the direction of exit travel, under 1910.36(f)(2). On that reading, a corridor that narrows as it approaches the door raises a different question from one that narrows near the studio, because the rule addresses capacity falling along the direction of travel rather than any single width.
Where equipment on a training floor narrows the route
The operations standard, 29 CFR 1910.37, is blunter. It states that “Exit routes must be free and unobstructed” and that “No materials or equipment may be placed, either permanently or temporarily, within the exit route,” under 1910.37(a)(3). The word temporarily removes the usual defense. Delivery day is not an exception.
The same paragraph rules out an exit access that passes through a room that can be locked, such as a bathroom, and one that leads into a dead-end corridor. Where a route is not substantially level, stairs or a ramp are required.
Marking and lighting carry their own dimensions. Each exit route must be adequately lighted so that an employee with normal vision can see along it, under 1910.37(b)(1). Exit signs must show the word “Exit” in plainly legible letters at least six inches (15.2 cm) high, with the principal strokes at least three-fourths of an inch (1.9 cm) wide, under 1910.37(b)(7).
Each sign must generally be illuminated to a surface value of at least five foot-candles (54 lux) under 1910.37(b)(6), which also permits self-luminous or electroluminescent signs that have a minimum luminance surface value of at least .06 footlamberts (0.21 cd/m2). A doorway that could be mistaken for an exit must be marked “Not an Exit” or identified by its actual use, under 1910.37(b)(5).
Equipment that blocks a sign is as much a problem as equipment that blocks a path. Exit route doors must be free of decorations or signs that obscure the door, under 1910.37(b)(3), and a poster rack or a banner stand parked beside a rear door can do exactly that.
Exit route clearances during a retrofit or repair
Some findings on a gym floor come from work in progress rather than from the permanent layout. OSHA addresses this in 1910.37(d). During new construction, employees must not occupy a workplace until the exit routes required by the subpart are completed and ready for use in the area they occupy, under 1910.37(d)(1).
During repairs or alterations, employees must not occupy a workplace unless the exit routes are available and existing fire protection is maintained, or equivalent alternate protection is provided, under 1910.37(d)(2).
Read that against a routine cardio refresh. Old units come off the floor, new ones arrive on pallets, and both sit somewhere for a day or two. If the staging area is a corridor that serves as an exit route, the facility is generally operating outside 1910.37(a)(3) for as long as the pallets are there, even though nothing about the arrangement is permanent.
Emergency safeguards are covered as well. Sprinklers, alarms, fire doors and exit lighting must be in proper working order at all times, under 1910.37(a)(4). An installer who tapes over a sprinkler head or props a fire door while running cable has created a second finding alongside the first.
Employee routes and member egress are separate reviews
The 1910 standards are written to protect employees, and 1910.36(b)(1) frames exit routes as permitting the prompt evacuation of employees and other building occupants. They do not themselves set the member egress widths or exit counts a fire marshal enforces, although 1910.36(f)(1) and (g)(3) tie exit route capacity and width to the maximum permitted occupant load of each floor served. OSHA’s note to 1910.36(b) points readers to NFPA 101-2009, the Life Safety Code, or the 2009 International Fire Code for help determining the number of exit routes, and the note to 1910.36(f) points to the same documents on occupant load.
The occupant-load and egress-width requirements a fire marshal enforces come from the locally adopted edition of those codes, which is often a newer edition than the one OSHA cites. A floor plan can therefore satisfy one review and still fail the other.
Treat them as two drawings and two sign-offs. The equipment decisions that follow, including whether observed congestion is a placement problem or a capacity problem, are better made with both in hand. Where a code question is close, the local authority having jurisdiction is the one to ask.
A seven-step floor check
- Mark the exit routes on the current equipment plan, tracing from the farthest training position to each exit discharge, rather than working from memory.
- Measure the narrowest point of each route with equipment in its real position, not its drawn position, and write the number down.
- Add the projections: weight horns, handles, trash cans, water stations, mats stored on end, cable attachments and signage stands.
- Confirm that no measured point falls below 28 inches and that the route does not get narrower as it approaches the discharge.
- Check the overhead: ceiling height along the route, and anything hung lower than 6 feet 8 inches, including screen arms, speakers and ductwork.
- Walk each route after hours with the lights in their night setting, and read every exit sign from the far end of the room.
- Name the person responsible for the route during a delivery, a retrofit or a repair, and name the staging area that is not a route.
A worked example, with assumptions stated
The figures below are assumptions chosen for illustration. They are not industry data, and any facility should measure its own floor.
Assume a corridor between a free-weight area and a rear exit measures 44 inches wall to wall. A delivery leaves two pallets of rubber plates against one wall, and the pallets plus shrink wrap project 18 inches into the corridor.
Subtracting 18 inches from 44 inches leaves 26 inches of clear width. That is below the 28-inch minimum in 1910.36(g)(2), so the route is generally out of compliance for as long as the pallets are there, and 1910.37(a)(3) draws no distinction between a permanent obstruction and a temporary one. Moving the same pallets to a 60-inch bay that is not part of any exit route costs little more than the labor to move them, and it removes the problem.
| What you measured | What it means | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Clear width of 28 inches or more at every point | Meets the 1910.36(g)(2) minimum for employee exit access | Record the measurement and the date, then recheck after any layout change |
| Clear width below 28 inches at any point | Out of compliance while the obstruction is present | Remove the obstruction the same day and relocate the staging area |
| Route narrows toward the exit discharge | Capacity decreasing in the direction of travel, contrary to 1910.36(f)(2) | Re-plan the equipment nearest the door before anything else |
| Fixture hung lower than 6 feet 8 inches | Ceiling projection below the 1910.36(g)(1) limit | Raise or relocate the fixture |
| Exit sign or exit route door obscured by equipment or display | Contrary to the line-of-sight requirement in 1910.37(b)(4), and to 1910.37(b)(3) where an exit route door is obscured | Clear the sightline and move the display |
Records and warning signs
A measurement is worth little if nobody can show when it was taken. Keep a dated floor sketch with the narrowest clear width noted for each route, the name of the person who measured it, and a short log of layout changes. Facilities that already keep asset-level service history and out-of-service logs as evidence can add the route check to that file rather than starting a new one.
Several patterns tend to show that a floor is drifting:
- Deliveries are routinely received through a side corridor because the dock is full.
- Equipment waiting for parts is stored on the floor rather than in a designated area.
- Mats, plates or benches are stacked against a wall that happens to form an exit route.
- Seasonal displays, banner stands or vending units appear near exits without a layout review.
- No single person owns the route during an install, so the crew decides where to stage.
Accessibility work belongs in the same review rather than a separate one, because both questions are about whether a person can actually get from one place to another. The overlap is with how to plan clear floor space and accessible routes together before a layout is approved.
Does OSHA set an exit route width for members?
Not directly. The 28-inch minimum in 1910.36(g)(2) applies to the exit access employees use, though 1910.36(b)(1) refers to the prompt evacuation of employees and other building occupants, and 1910.36(f)(1) and (g)(3) require an exit route to support and accommodate the maximum permitted occupant load of each floor served. Member egress widths and the number of required exits come from the locally adopted fire and building codes, and OSHA’s notes to 1910.36 point to NFPA 101-2009 and the 2009 International Fire Code as guidance on the number of routes and on occupant load.
Can equipment be staged in a corridor overnight?
Not if the corridor is an exit route. Section 1910.37(a)(3) states that no materials or equipment may be placed within the exit route either permanently or temporarily, so an overnight stage is treated the same way as a permanent obstruction.
What should a facility keep after a route check?
A dated sketch showing each route and its narrowest clear width, the name of the person who measured it, a note of what was moved, and the date of the next review. Keeping it with the equipment service file means one request produces both.
Exit route clearances are cheap to get right and awkward to explain after an inspection. The work needs a tape measure, a current floor plan and one named owner for the route during every delivery and retrofit. Measure the narrowest point this week, write the number down, and decide where equipment will be staged before the next truck arrives.
