fast facts Safe Office Checklist

 Is Your Work Station a Safe Place? 

November 2008 

Office of Compliance 

advancing safety, health, and workplace rights in the legislative branch 

www.compliance.gov 

 The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 established an 

obligation for your employer to provide each legislative branch 

employee a safe and healthful place to work. The Occupational 

Safety and Health Act of 1971 (OSH Act) established similar 

requirements for employers in the private sector and the Federal 

executive branch of government. There is a general obligation 

[general duty] that has been established for these employing 

offices that they are to furnish to each employee a workplace 

free of recognized hazards that are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to their employees, and to comply with the 

standards established by the Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration under the OSH Act. 

Each worker needs to stay alert to potential office safety and 

health hazards and bring them to the attention of a supervisor or 

manager to have them properly addressed. The following 

checklist will assist office workers, managers and others to help 

ensure a safer office area to work. Take this checklist through 

your office area to see if your workplace is in compliance. 

□ Review your office emergency action plan or evacuation 

plan to make sure you know where to go if a building evacuation or a shelter-in-place emergency alarm is sounded in your 

building. If you have assigned duties under your office plan, 

make sure you know what they are and how to perform them. 

Make sure the exit routes out of the office are kept free and 

clear. 

□ Check your electrical wires for your office 

desk equipment and 

other office equipment 

to make sure that extension cords are not being 

used as permanent wiring connections. Make 

sure that each power 

strip or surge protector 

is plugged directly into 

a floor or wall outlet. 

Make sure each three 

prong plug has its 

ground prong. 

□ Check your electrical outlets and the power cord plugs to 

make sure they are not damaged and the electrical wires are 

kept within its box. Check the wiring panel areas in modular furniture to make sure the covers are in place for keeping 

the electrical contacts properly covered. 

□ Check your bathroom outlets near the sink and in other 

wet floor and counter areas to make sure that the electrical 

outlets have ground fault 

circuit interrupters (GFCI) 

at these locations. You 

may want to test these 

GFCIs to make sure that 

they trip properly to prevent electrical shock hazards. You need to press 

the test button and then 

after it trips push the reset 

on the GFCI so that it is 

put back into service. 

□ Check and make sure 

that if your office has an 

electrical panelboard 

with circuit breakers, 

the area in front of the electrical panel is to be kept clear 

with no obstructions so that in an emergency the circuit 

breakers can be reached quickly to kill the power to a given 

circuit. Nothing is to be in front of the panel so that the door 

can be fully opened and the electrician can access all circuit 

breakers and other parts within the panel. 

□ If a portable space heater is used during cold weather in 

your work area, make sure it is plugged directly into a floor 

or wall outlet. Make sure there are no combustible materials 

placed near the heater, and the heater unit has a tip overswitch such that it will automatically shutdown if it is 

knocked over on its face to prevent a fire from occurring. 

 

□ If a portable fan is used in your work area, make sure it 

is equipped with a fan blade guard with openings of a half 

inch in diameter or less. 

Appliance plug missing ground prong 

 Daisy Chain of powerstrips 
 

This information does not constitute advice or an official ruling of the Office of Compliance or the Board of 

Directors and is intended for educational purposes only. For further information or comments concerning this 

Fast Facts, please refer to the Congressional Accountability Act (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) and the regulations 

issued by the Board, or you may contact the Office of Compliance, 202-724-9249.

The Office of Compliance advances safety, 

health, and workplace rights in the U.S. 

Congress and the Legislative Branch. Established as an independent agency by the 

Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, 

the Office educates employees and employing offices about their rights and responsibilities under the Act, provides an impartial 

dispute resolution process, and investigates 

and remedies violations of the Act. 

If you have any questions, please do not 

hesitate to contact the Office of Compliance: 

Room LA 200, John Adams Building 

110 Second Street, SE 

Washington, D.C. 20540 

t/ 202-724-9250 

tdd/ 202-426-1912 

f/ 202-426-1913 

Peter Ames Eveleth 

General Counsel 

Mary-Margaret Smith 

Editor Download the entire Fast Facts suite at http://www.compliance.gov 

□ If a portable paper cutter is used in the office, make 

sure that it has a finger guard in front of the blade arm 

cutting area to prevent the fingers from getting under the 

blade. 

□ Check to make sure that power cords, wires and phone 

cables do not run across or in a walkway or exit route 

pathway so as to prevent a tripping hazard from being 

present. 

□ Check to make sure that carpet and rugs are secured 

and in good condition to prevent slipping and tripping. 

Make sure if any materials spill on the floor that can create a slipping or tripping hazard that they are promptly 

cleaned up. 

□ Check to make sure that file cabinet drawers when being accessed do not block a walkway. Any file cabinet 

drawers that partially open into a walkway should not be 

left unattended and should be fully closed when access is 

no longer required. 

 

□ Check when loading file cabinets to ensure that heavy 

items are on the bottom. Do not leave file cabinet drawers standing open. Drawers left open at the top of a file 

cabinet could cause the cabinet to tip and fall over. 

Drawers standing open can also cause a ‘strike against’ or 

laceration hazard if you or others get too close to the 

sharp edges or corners of the cabinet. 

□ Make sure that overhead stored materials are kept 

stored in a secured manner. Any storage shelving being 

used to store materials or equipment must be secured to 

the wall or other means to prevent it and its stored materials from falling over on to a person. 

Broken wall-out was being used 

Blocked exit route 

Poorly guarded fan