What is a refuge or safe area?
Refuge or safe area is the term in OSHA's nonmandatory evacuation appendix for the place people go during an evacuation, inside another part of the building or outside, away from the emergency.
Also called area of refuge, assembly area
What it means.
This is the wording that appears in the Code of Federal Regulations, in the appendix to Subpart E of Part 1910, and that appendix states it is a nonmandatory guideline. In a building divided into fire zones, a refuge area can be inside the same building in a different zone from the emergency. Outside, the appendix says it may be a parking lot, open field or street away from the emergency with enough space for the employees, and that people should move away from the exit doors and avoid gathering close to the building.
OSHA's eTool, which is also guidance, says assembly locations inside a building are often called areas of refuge, and suggests choosing outdoor assembly areas up-wind of the building. None of these sources sets a distance in feet.
Employees should be instructed to move away from the exit discharge doors of the building, and to avoid congregating close to the building where they may hamper emergency operations.
Where it shows up on a job.
At a plant it is usually a marked area across the parking lot from the main exits, with a second one on the other side of the building in case the wind or the fire makes the first one unsafe.
Where this comes from.
Each source was read on 22 October 2026. Guidance is advice; a regulation is the rule.
- Appendix to Subpart E of Part 1910Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29. Nonmandatory appendix to a regulation. Refuge or safe areas, and the one-warden-per-twenty guideline.
- Evacuation Plans and Procedures eTool, emergency action plan elementsOccupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA guidance, advisory. Assembly areas, head counts and accounting for visitors.
A plain-language definition, not legal advice. For a decision on your site, read the standard that applies to it.
Related terms
- assembly point
An assembly point is the place people go after they leave a building in an emergency, so someone can find out who made it out and who did not.
- muster point
A muster point is the place a site tells people to gather in an emergency so they can be accounted for; it does the same job as an assembly point under a different name.
- headcount
A headcount is the check, after people have left, that everyone who should be accounted for is, with the names and last known locations of anyone missing passed to whoever is in charge.
- evacuation warden
An evacuation warden is a person given the job of helping others get out during an emergency, checking areas on the way, and helping account for people once they reach the safe area.
Read moreAssembly point and muster point: who uses which word
In PanoraEmergency muster: Start an event, account for everyone at the muster point on a tablet, and keep the after-action report.