29 CFR § 1926.851 - Stairs, passageways, and ladders.
---identifier: "/us/cfr/t29/s1926.851"source: "ecfr"legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"title: "29 CFR § 1926.851 - Stairs, passageways, and ladders."title_number: 29title_name: "Labor"section_number: "1926.851"section_name: "Stairs, passageways, and ladders."chapter_name: "OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"part_number: "1926"part_name: "SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION"positive_law: falsecurrency: "2026-03-24"last_updated: "2026-03-24"format_version: "1.1.0"generator: "[email protected]"authority: "40 U.S.C. 3704; 29 U.S.C. 653, 655, and 657; and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), 1-90 (55 FR 9033), 6-96 (62 FR 111), 3-2000 (65 FR 50017), 5-2002 (67 FR 65008), 5-2007 (72 FR 31159), 4-2010 (75 FR 55355), 1-2012 (77 FR 3912), or 8-2020 (85 FR 58393), as applicable; and 29 CFR part 1911, unless otherwise noted"regulatory_source: "44 FR 8577, Feb. 9, 1979; 44 FR 20940, Apr. 6, 1979, unless otherwise noted."cfr_part: "1926"---
Identifier
/us/cfr/t29/s1926.851
Currency
2026-03-24
Positive Law
No
Updated
2026-03-24
Chapter
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Labor
Authority
40 U.S.C. 3704; 29 U.S.C. 653, 655, and 657; and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), 1-90 (55 FR 9033), 6-96 (62 FR 111), 3-2000 (65 FR 50017), 5... 40 U.S.C. 3704; 29 U.S.C. 653, 655, and 657; and Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), 1-90 (55 FR 9033), 6-96 (62 FR 111), 3-2000 (65 FR 50017), 5-2002 (67 FR 65008), 5-2007 (72 FR 31159), 4-2010 (75 FR 55355), 1-2012 (77 FR 3912), or 8-2020 (85 FR 58393), as applicable; and 29 CFR part 1911, unless otherwise noted
# 1926.851 Stairs, passageways, and ladders.(a) Only those stairways, passageways, and ladders, designated as means of access to the structure of a building, shall be used. Other access ways shall be entirely closed at all times.(b) All stairs, passageways, ladders and incidental equipment thereto, which are covered by this section, shall be periodically inspected and maintained in a clean safe condition.(c) In a multistory building, when a stairwell is being used, it shall be properly illuminated by either natural or artificial means, and completely and substantially covered over at a point not less than two floors below the floor on which work is being performed, and access to the floor where the work is in progress shall be through a properly lighted, protected, and separate passageway.