Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Radiation

Standards

There are national consensus standards and standards from the United Kingdom (UK) which OSHA could consider referencing in a general duty clause citation. This section highlights those standards.

State Plan Standards

There are 29 OSHA-approved State Plans operating state-wide occupational safety and health programs. State Plans are required to have standards and enforcement programs that are at least as effective as OSHA's and may have different or more stringent requirements.

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

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Publishes consensus standards on radio frequency (RF) exposures and measurements. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Standards Coordinating Committee 28 is the secretariat for ANSI for developing radio frequency (RF) standards. It is also the parent organization for the IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR) that publishes position papers on human exposure to electromagnetic fields.

C95.6, Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields, 0-3 kHz. Defines exposure levels to protect against adverse effects in humans from exposure to electric and magnetic fields at frequencies from 0 to 3 kHz.
EPRI Comments on the IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields, 0 to 3 kHz. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), (January 2003). EPRI comments that the IEEE Standard represents a clear advancement in the development and documentation of exposure guidelines in the designated frequency range.

American Conference of Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)

Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values for Physical Agents, 7th Ed. Provides consensus exposure limits from the Organization of Governmental Industrial Hygienists for Sub-Radio frequency (30kHz and below) and Static Electric and Magnetic Fields.

International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Guidelines

Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Electric Fields Induced by Movement of the Human Body in a Static Magnetic Field and by Time-Varying Magnetic Fields Below 1 Hz. (2014). Establishes guidelines for the protection of workers moving in static magnetic fields or being exposed to magnetic fields with frequencies below 1 Hz. The ICNIRP is an affiliate of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Foreign National

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

Public Health England

Radiation: products and services. Health Protection Agency - Radiation Protection Division (HPA/RPD). Provides standards of protection for exposure to radiation, which includes electric and magnetic fields.