OSHA 1910 in an operating data center.
1910 governs the facility once it is running. Nearly every subpart touches a data center somewhere — and the ones people forget are rarely the electrical ones.
General industry (1910) applies to operations and maintenance. Construction (1926) applies to construction, alteration and repair. On a live campus with an active build-out, both apply at the same time on the same property — which is why the boundary between them is one of the most consequential things to get right. More on that →
§ What 1910 covers here
- Operations and maintenance of the running facility.
- Routine repair — replacing a failed component in kind is maintenance, not construction.
- Your own employees and, through the multi-employer doctrine, exposure you create or control.
Replacing a breaker like-for-like is maintenance. Adding a new distribution section, running new feeders or building out a new data hall is construction. When a task sits on the line, the practical answer is to apply whichever standard is more protective and document why.
§ Subpart by subpart
| Subpart | Topic | Where it lands in a data center |
|---|---|---|
| D | Walking-working surfaces — 1910.22–.30 | Rooftop chillers and CRAH units, catwalks over data halls, cable tray access, generator radiator platforms, unprotected roof edges. Detail → |
| E | Exit routes and emergency planning — 1910.36–.39 | Badge-controlled egress, mantraps, fail-safe vs fail-secure door hardware, exits blocked behind cage build-outs |
| G | Noise — 1910.95 | Generator load bank testing, fan walls, chiller plant. Hearing conservation program triggers at 85 dBA TWA |
| H | Hazardous materials — 1910.101–.126 | Diesel fuel farms and day tanks, glycol, refrigerants, battery electrolyte |
| H | Confined spaces — 1910.146 | Electrical vaults, valve pits, cooling tower basins, thermal storage tanks. Detail → |
| H | Lockout/tagout — 1910.147 | The energy control program. Detail → |
| I | PPE — 1910.132–.140 | Written hazard assessment certification, Class E hard hats, EH footwear, rubber goods. Detail → |
| J | Signs and tags — 1910.145 | Accident prevention signs, arc flash labelling interaction |
| K | Medical and first aid — 1910.151 | AED program, and eyewash within 10 seconds of flooded battery rooms — 1910.151(c) |
| L | Fire protection — 1910.155–.165 | Clean agent discharge and occupant safety, pre-action systems, VESDA, fire watch during impairment |
| N | Materials handling — 1910.176–.184 | Server and rack delivery, dock operations, powered industrial trucks, battery cabinet moves, rack tip-over |
| O | Machine guarding — 1910.212–.219 | Fan wall guarding, cooling tower drives, belt guards, CRAH rotating parts |
| Q | Welding and hot work — 1910.251–.255 | Hot work permits inside a live facility, fire watch, suppression impairment |
| S | Electrical — 1910.301–.399 | The core. Installation safety and safety-related work practices. Detail → |
| Z | Toxic and hazardous substances | HazCom 1910.1200, lead 1910.1025 (battery terminals), silica 1910.1053 (concrete coring), bloodborne pathogens 1910.1030 |
§ The five that generate findings
1910.147 energy control. Procedures that do not match the equipment, or annual inspections that were never done.
1910.132(d) hazard assessment. The written certification does not exist. This one is cheap to fix and frequently missing.
1910.37 exit routes. Egress blocked by cage build-out, staged equipment or cabling.
1910.151(c) eyewash. No eyewash within 10 seconds of a flooded battery room, or one that has never been flushed.
General Duty Clause 5(a)(1) for arc flash — because there is no general industry arc flash standard, so OSHA reaches for NFPA 70E. How that works →
Train to the standard OSHA measures you against
Every class maps 70E requirements back to the OSHA sections they satisfy.
See the schedule Bring it onsite