Exit Route Requirements
Definitions
An exit route is a continuous, unobstructed path that leads employees from any point inside a workplace to a safe area outside the building. OSHA requires multiple, well-marked exit routes that are accessible, properly lit, and free from obstructions. Exit routes should include doors, corridors, and any emergency exit signage needed to safely guide people out of the building during an emergency.
Exit Routes
An exit route consists of three parts:
- Exit access: The portion of a means of egress that leads to an exit. It includes any part of a building or structure that occupants must travel through to reach the exit, such as hallways, corridors, and aisles. Exit access does not provide direct access to the outside but leads to the exit itself.
- Exit: That portion of a means of egress which is separated from other parts of the building to provide a protected path of travel to the exit discharge. Exits may include exterior doors, stairways, ramps, or passageways that are fire-rated and designed to safely lead occupants out of a structure during an emergency.
- Exit discharge That part of the exit route that leads directly outside or to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or open space with access to the outside This area allows occupants to safely move from the exit to a place of safety outside the building, such as a courtyard, alley, or street.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
6-1. Which of the following is that part of the exit route that leads directly outside or to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or open space with access to the outside?
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