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Wood-lathe rules in a school shop

Summary An engineer asked whether two OSHA woodworking-machine provisions applied to a normal nonautomatic 12-inch wood lathe in a high school shop. OSHA said they did not apply to that machine. OSHA archives the letter.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Document number
1978-05-30
Date issued
May 30, 1978
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OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy.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 Woodworking Machinery Lathes
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OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy.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 Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance, and verify current law before relying on anything here.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NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

May 30, 1978
Mr. David I. Feinstein
Senior Research Engineer
Triodyne, Inc.
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Feinstein:
This is in response to your recent letter regarding the applicability of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards 29 CFR 1910.213(o)(2) and (4) to a normal non-automatic 12-inch wood lathe that is used in a high school shop. This also confirms a discussion on the subject matter with Mr. Peter Wasko, a member of my staff.
The standards identified above are not applicable to the wood lathe referred to in your letter.
If I may be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
John K. Barto, Chief
Division of Occupational
Safety Programming

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