This section serves to revise and update the existing requirements that apply to surfaces in general industry. Included are considerations for:

Surface conditions and housekeeping- employers to ensure surfaces are kept clean, orderly, and in sanitary conditions. This includes in all places of employment, passageways, storerooms, service rooms, and walking-working surfaces.
Employer’s walking-working surfaces are regularly inspected and maintained as needed, then corrected, repaired, or guarded against hazardous conditions. The surfaces must be kept free from hazards, such as loose boards, sharp or protruding objects corrosion, leaks, spills, snow or ice.
Employers are required to ensure each walking-working surface can support the maximum intended load for that surface. This includes all employees, machines and equipment, vehicles, tools and materials, and any loads the employer reasonably anticipate may be applied to the surface. This does not require engineers, but by making “a visual examination of the condition of the roof and the rest of the structure.”
Access and Egress: Employers provide and ensure each worker uses a safe means of access to and egress from walking-working surfaces. The means of access and egress areas must remain in clear and good repair to allow for safe movement.
Workplace Assessments- Inspection, Maintenance, and Repair: Employers must inspect and maintain walking-working surfaces in a safe condition, by inspection regularly and as necessary. A regular inspection means by some type of schedule, formal or informal, for inspecting surfaces adequate enough to identify hazards and address them in a timely manner. “As necessary” means the employer must conduct inspections due to a change in normal conditions, such as a spill, or major storm event, to ensure the surface is still free from hazards.
Employers must ensure to correct or repair hazardous conditions, before allowing workers to use those surfaces. If repairs cannot be made immediately, the area must be guarded to prevent workers from entering.