Space requirements for mobile migrant-worker housing

June 21, 1991

Mr. Edward L. Reed
C.E.O.
Reedsway Portable Housing Developers
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Reed:

This is in response to your letter of February 28, addressed to Raymond Donnelly, Director, Office of General Industry Compliance Assistance, and to your March 12, telephone conversation with a member of my staff, in which you requested an interpretation of whether our 29 CFR 1910.142(b)(9) Temporary labor camps standard, pertaining to the 100 sq. ft. per person minimum requirement for rooms where workers cook, live, and sleep, applies to mobile housing units.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reviewed your request, including the enclosed materials, and concluded that all mobile housing units, without exception, must comply with the general provisions of .142, including the 100 square feet provisions of standard. The mobility of the units does not relieve the employer from complying with the relevant provisions of the standard. The number of employees housed in the mobile units, as with fixed or permanent units, must be based on the 100 square feet per person formula. For the purposes of enforcing the standard, OSHA considers each entire mobile housing unit to be one room.

The Employment Standards Administration (ESA), through its enforcement of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA), enforces OSHA's .142 standards in its 29 CFR 500.130 through 500.135 housing regulations. ESA informed us that it's policy with respect to the square footage requirement in mobile units is the same as ours.

Please feel free to contact us if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,
Patricia K. Clark, Director
Directorate of Compliance Programs