Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, often referred to as the General Duty Clause, requires employers to "furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees". Section 5(a)(2) requires employers to "comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act".

Note: Twenty-four states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have OSHA-approved State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies. For the most part, these States adopt standards that are identical to Federal OSHA. However, some States have adopted different standards applicable to this topic or may have different enforcement policies.

General Industry (29 CFR 1910)

• 1910 Subpart G, Occupational health and environment control
  • 1910.94, Ventilation [related topic page]

Construction Industry (29 CFR 1926)

• 1926 Subpart D, Occupational health and environmental controls
  • 1926.57, Ventilation

• Indoor air quality. Notice 66:64946, (2001, December 17). Withdrawal of proposal.
• Indoor air quality. Proposed Rules 59:15968-16039, (1994, April 5). By this notice,  OSHA proposed to adopt standards addressing indoor air quality in indoor work environments.
• Search all available Federal Registers.

• Reiteration of Existing OSHA Policy on Indoor Air Quality: Office Temperature/Humidity and Environmental Tobacco Smoke. (2003, February 24).
• Enforcement Policy for Respiratory Hazards Not Covered by OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits. (2003, January 24).
• Record retention requirements for indoor air quality documents and reports. (2002, August 1).
• Air monitoring results, citations, and employee exposure records. (2002, March 27).
• The use of ozone gas from ozone generators in a large room. (1995, April 3).
• Request for a list of all OSHA-regulated air contaminants. (1995, March 22).
• Breathing air: testing and carbon monoxide alarm. (1994, April 25).
• Search all available standard interpretations.

Note: These are NOT OSHA regulations. However, they do provide guidance from their originating organizations related to worker protection.

• 62.1-2007, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. Specifies minimum ventilation rates and indoor air quality that will be acceptable to human occupants to minimize the potential for adverse health effects. Whereas ASHRAE Standard 62 has always been considered a design standard for ventilation, building owner/operators should pay particular attention to Section 8 titled Operations and Maintenance. Section 8 offers guidance to the building owner/operator as to what ventilation components should be maintained, what tasks should be performed and the minimum frequency for performing those tasks.
• 55-2004, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy. Specifies temperatures that approximately 80 percent of building occupants should find acceptable.