OSHA jurisdiction over dormitory smoking and worker exposure

May 7, 1986
Mr. Donald Cameron Frye
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Frye:
This is in response to your inquiry concerning the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations that apply to smoking in dormitories.
OSHA is charged with protecting the safety and health of workers and does not regulate the ventilation of residences. Currently, OSHA has no regulations that apply to smoking, however, OSHA does have a standard which limits employee exposure to carbon monoxide one of the products from the combustion of tobacco. The current OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL) for carbon monoxide is 50 parts of carbon monoxide per million parts of air averaged over an 8-hour work day. I have enclosed the "NIOSH/OSHA Occupational Health Guideline for Carbon Monoxide" for your use. This guideline provided information on the health effects associated with carbon monoxide exposure.
Also, you may want to write to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning this matter. EPA is responsible for protecting the health of the general public and may have guidelines that apply to smoking. The address is:
EPA
401 M Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20640
I have also enclosed an article entitled "The Problem of Passive Smoking" by James L. Replace of EPA for your use and a bibliography of references on tobacco smoke compiled by the National Capital Area Lung Associations.
Concerning the occupational safety and health manual that you mentioned in your letter, I suspect that this manual was developed by your installation. I suggest that you ask you dormitory manager for a copy.
I hope this information is useful to you.
Sincerely,
Richard D. Edsell
Director
Office of Science and Technology Assessment

[Requester letter reproduced on OSHA page; omitted here.]

[The referenced guideline, article and bibliography are not reproduced on OSHA's page.]