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Stair railings in public-use buildings

Summary An OSHA region asked about railings on very wide stairways. OSHA said its stairway rule applied to stairs intended for employees, while the described public-use building stairway design fell outside OSHA's purview. OSHA archives the memo.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Document number
1974-06-20
Date issued
June 20, 1974
Status
Archived by the agency
OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy.
Status last verified October 10, 2026
Topics
Workplace Safety OSHA 1910 Stairways Guardrails Coverage
Source
View the official document

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OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy. It may no longer reflect the agency's current position. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance, and verify current law before relying on anything here.
About this page: The full text below is the official document from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Ezel adds the plain-English summary and tracks the document's status. The official source linked on this page is authoritative for any reliance.

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

June 20, 1974

MEMORANDUM FOR: JOHN GRANCHI, Associate Assistant Regional Director for Technical Support
SUBJECT: Field Information Memorandum #74-39, Requests for Standards Interpretation

This is in response to your letter of May 24, 1974 and the attachment from Naramore Bain Brady and Johanson, dated May 10, 1974.
If a stairway were intended for employee use only, the provisions of part 1910.23(d) would be applicable. The design of stairways wider than 88 inches without an intermediate stair railing, in buildings intended primarily for public use as described in the architects' letter, does not fall within the purview of OSHA.
Barry J. White
Associate Assistant Secretary
for Regional Programs

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