Indoor or outdoor: which rule applies to your site
The site kind decides every heat duty you owe. Here is how to classify the hard cases.
In California, Oregon, Washington, Maryland, and Minnesota the indoor or outdoor classification changes which standard applies, which metric you record, and what the crew is owed. A cab, a shipping container, a partially enclosed structure, and a tent are the cases that get argued about. Getting the classification wrong produces a clean-looking record of the wrong rule, which is worse than no record.
Takeaways
- Classify a vehicle cab, a container, a tent, and a partial enclosure with confidence.
- Say which standard each of your sites falls under, and which metric it needs.
- Handle a crew that works indoors and outdoors in the same shift.
- Avoid the failure mode where the wrong site kind hides a duty entirely.
Why the classification decides everything else
The test for indoor
The cases that get argued about
A crew that works both in one shift
What happens when the site kind is wrong
Frequently asked questions
- Is a vehicle cab with working air conditioning still an indoor site? It is still an indoor space, but working air conditioning changes the exposure and may bring it under an exemption in some rules. Oregon specifically addresses vehicles without functioning air conditioning, which implies the ones with it are treated differently.
- Can one site be both indoor and outdoor in RestShade? A site has one kind, which sets the default rule. When a crew works both, record the metrics both standards need and describe the second environment in the log note. Splitting into two sites is the cleaner answer when the crews are different.
- Does a canopy count as an indoor space? No, if the sides are open. That is shade. Drop the sides and it becomes an enclosed space that traps heat, which is why event tents with walls are a real indoor heat hazard.
- What about an underground vault or crawlspace? Enclosed with overhead covering, so indoor. These often also raise confined space obligations, which carry their own atmospheric testing requirements.