OSHA power strip rules treat these devices as strictly temporary equipment. You can use a relocatable power tap to serve extra devices for a short period, but the moment it starts substituting for permanent wiring, gets daisy-chained into another strip, or feeds a high-draw appliance like a space heater, it becomes a citable violation carrying fines up to $16,550 per occurrence.1Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 2025 Annual Adjustments to OSHA Civil Penalties
Temporary Use Only
Federal regulations prohibit flexible cords from serving as a substitute for the fixed wiring of a structure, from being routed through walls or ceilings, or from being attached to building surfaces.2eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.305 – Wiring Methods, Components, and Equipment for General Use A power strip is a flexible cord device. Every major safety standard treats it as a portable accessory, not infrastructure.
OSHA has confirmed in a formal interpretation letter that using relocatable power taps solely to provide extra or more convenient outlets is a violation.3Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Standard Interpretation – Use of Relocatable Power Taps That’s where most workplaces slip up. The strip was plugged in during a move, or when someone needed to charge a laptop, and two years later it’s still there running a printer and a monitor. An inspector will read that as permanent wiring in disguise. The fix isn’t another power strip; it’s calling an electrician to install additional wall receptacles.
A related rule, 29 CFR 1910.303, requires that listed or labeled electrical equipment be installed and used according to its listing instructions.4eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.303 – General If the label on the strip says “for temporary use only” or caps the load at 15 amps, ignoring that language is itself a regulatory violation.
What You Can’t Plug In, and What You Can’t Plug Into What
Daisy-chaining — plugging one power strip into another, or into an extension cord — is the violation inspectors see most often, and it causes real fires. Linking strips together overloads a single wall receptacle’s circuit, generating heat in wiring that was never designed for the combined load.5Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. Fast Facts – Power Strips and Dangerous Daisy Chains The configuration itself is the hazard, regardless of what the combined devices appear to be drawing.
OSHA has also specifically identified space heaters, refrigerators, and microwave ovens as high-draw appliances that should not be connected to power strips.6Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Compliance Requirements for Relocatable Power Taps These appliances pull sustained high current that can exceed a strip’s rated capacity. A standard strip is rated at 15 amps. A single space heater on its highest setting can draw 12.5 amps by itself. Add a desk lamp on the same strip and you’re over the limit. High-draw appliances belong in a permanent wall outlet on a dedicated circuit.
Before you plug anything in, add up the amperage ratings of every device you want to connect. The total must stay under the strip’s rated capacity, and if you’re anywhere close to the limit, split the load across separate outlets. Overloading is one of the most common causes of electrical fires in commercial buildings, and one of the easiest to prevent.
Mounting and Placement
The prohibition on attaching flexible cords to building surfaces means you cannot nail, staple, screw, or zip-tie a power strip to a wall, desk, or baseboard.2eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.305 – Wiring Methods, Components, and Equipment for General Use Doing so effectively converts the strip into fixed wiring, and an inspector who finds one fastened under a desk will treat it the same as unauthorized permanent electrical work.
The compliant approach is to use the keyhole slots most power strips include on their housing. These let you hang the strip on screws or hooks so it can be lifted off without tools, which preserves its status as a portable device. Keep strips off the floor in traffic areas so they aren’t stepped on or damaged, and never route them under carpets or rugs, where heat can build up unnoticed and cord damage stays invisible.
Certification Marks to Check For
OSHA requires electrical equipment used in the workplace to carry a certification mark from a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory.7Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) Program Common NRTLs include Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Intertek (ETL), and CSA Group. Before you deploy a strip anywhere in the workplace, check the housing for one of those marks. A product without an NRTL certification mark generally does not meet the legal threshold for workplace use.
Per-Shift Inspection
OSHA requires a visual inspection of all portable cord-connected equipment before use on each shift.8Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.334 – Use of Equipment Look for loose parts, deformed or missing plug pins, damage to the outer jacket or insulation, and signs of internal damage like a pinched or crushed cord. If you find a defect, pull the device from service right away. It can’t go back into use until it’s repaired and tested.
There is one exception. Equipment that stays connected in place and isn’t exposed to damage doesn’t need re-inspection until it’s relocated. In most offices, that covers strips tucked behind stationary equipment; it doesn’t cover strips at workstations where people plug and unplug things throughout the day.
Training You Owe Employees
Buying the right power strips isn’t enough on its own. OSHA requires training for any employee who faces a risk of electric shock that the facility’s electrical installation hasn’t already eliminated.9Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.332 – Training That includes office staff who plug and unplug equipment daily. Training can be classroom-based or on-the-job, and its depth should match the actual risk employees face.
At minimum, employees need to understand: don’t daisy-chain, don’t plug in space heaters or other high-draw devices, inspect the cord before use, and report damaged strips instead of continuing to use them. Document the training. When OSHA investigates an electrical incident, one of the first requests will be proof that affected employees were trained.
Different Rules in Patient Care Areas
If you work in a healthcare facility, the general OSHA rules aren’t the whole picture. In patient care areas, any power strip supplying patient care equipment must be a Special Purpose Relocatable Power Tap listed to UL 1363A or UL 60601-1, use hospital-grade plugs and receptacles, and stay under 80 percent of the cord’s rated capacity across all connected devices.10Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Survey and Certification Letter 14-46 – Categorical Waiver for Power Strips Use in Patient Care Areas Standard consumer strips are prohibited in patient care vicinities, including for uses like phone charging. Outside those areas, standard strips remain acceptable for non-patient-care equipment.
What Violations Cost
OSHA adjusts its penalty amounts every year. Under the most recent adjustment, a serious violation carries a maximum fine of $16,550 per occurrence, and willful or repeated violations rise to $165,514 per occurrence.1Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 2025 Annual Adjustments to OSHA Civil Penalties Each affected workstation can count as a separate violation, so an office with power strips daisy-chained at six desks isn’t looking at one citation but six. If the underlying problem is that a workspace consistently has too few outlets, paying an electrician to install permanent receptacles is almost always cheaper than the combined cost of fines, fire damage, and workers’ compensation claims.