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 environmental control
  • 1910.97, Non-ionizing radiation. The exposure limit in this standard (10 mW/sq. cm.) is expressed in voluntary language and has been ruled unenforceable for Federal OSHA enforcement. The standard does specify the design of an RF warning sign. Newer designs are also acceptable. (See standard interpretations) [related topic page]
• 1910 Subpart J, General environmental controls
  • 1910.147, The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) [related topic page]
• 1910 Subpart R, Special industries
  • 1910.268, Telecommunications

Construction Industry (29 CFR 1926)

• 1926 Subpart D, Occupational health and environmental controls
  • 1926.54, Non-ionizing radiation
    • 1926.54(l), Construction. Limits worker exposure to 10 mW/sq.cm. for construction work (including the painting of towers).

• Display of a non-ionizing radiation warning sign meets standard (1992, June 18). States that the use of the updated ANSI design for an RF warning sign in lieu of the design in 29 CFR 1910.97 may be acceptable.
• Use of RF Protective Clothing (1993, April 14). Describes requirements for using RF Protective Clothing, including parameters which should be evaluated before its use.
• Search all available standard interpretations.

• Radio Frequency Safety. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to evaluate the effect of emissions from FCC-regulated transmitters on the quality of the human environment. At the present time there is no federally-mandated radio frequency (RF) exposure standard.
  • The FCC’s requirements dealing with RF exposure can be found in Part 1 of its rules at 47 CFR Section 1.1307(b). The exposure limits themselves are specified in 47 CFR Section 1.1310 in terms of frequency, field strength, power density and averaging time. Facilities and transmitters licensed and authorized by the FCC must either comply with these guidelines or else an applicant must file an Environmental Assessment (EA) with the FCC as specified in 47 CFR Section 1.1301 et seq.
• Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), (2005, January 6), 144 KB PDF, 7 pages. Describes a violation of FCC rules resulting in a $10K fine. The case involves a worker climbing an FM broadcast tower.

• ANSI publishes consensus standards on RF exposures and measurements. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety (ICES) sets safety standards across frequencies 0 to 300 GHz.  also the parent organization for the IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR) that publishes position papers on human exposure to electromagnetic fields.
  
  • C95.1, 1999 Edition, IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 3 kHz to 300 GHz. (Incorporates IEEE Std C95.1-1991 and IEEE Std C95.1a-1998)
    • Amendment 1: Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) Limits for Pinna is under consideration.
  • C95.2-1999, IEEE Standard for Radio Frequency Energy and Current Flow Symbols
  • C95.3-2002, IEEE Recommended Practice for Measurements and Computations of Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields With Respect to Human Exposure to Such Fields, 100 kHz-300 GHz
  • C95.4-2002, IEEE Recommended Practice for Determining Safe Distances from Radio Frequency Transmitting Antennas When Using Electric Blasting Caps During Explosive Operations
  • C95.6-2002. IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields, 0-3 kHz. (2002) This standard defines exposure levels to protect against adverse effects in humans from exposure to electric and magnetic fields at frequencies from 0 to 3 kHz.
  • A new draft standard, IEEE C95.7, IEEE Recommended Practice for Radio Frequency Safety Programs, was approved in early 2004.

• Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values for Physical Agents, 7th Ed. American Conference of Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). Consensus exposure limits from organization of governmental industrial hygienists for radiofrequency and microwave radiation.

• International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Guidelines for limiting exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields (up to 300 GHz). Health Physics 1998;74:494–522.The ICNIRP is an affiliate of the World Health Organization (WHO). PDF version of the guidelines is available, as well as other publications of ICNIRP. Also available as a downloadable 611 KB PDF, 29 pages.

• Radiation Protection Standard - Maximum exposure levels to radiofrequency fields - 3kHz to 300GHz. Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, (2002, March 20), 2.1 MB PDF, 136 pages. The ARPANSA Standard is relevant to emissions from all devices that produce and radiate RF electromagnetic energy (EME) fields either deliberately of incidentally during their operation - this includes mobile phone handsets and base stations as well as radio and television transmitters and industrial sources.

• Health Protection Agency (HPA). Document summaries are available on publications and documents pages as well as:
  • Restrictions on human exposure to static and time varying electromagnetic fields and radiation: scientific basis and recommendation for implementation of the Board’s statement. Documents of the NRPB 1993;4:8–69.United Kingdom.
  • 1998 ICNIRP Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Time-Varying Electric, Magnetic and Electromagnetic Fields (up to 300 GHz): NRPB Advice on Aspects of Implementation in the UK. A statement by the NRPB, and an abstract and executive summary of the document are available.