WAC
296-62-005 Occupational health and environmental control--Foreword.
(1) Foreword.
(a) Modern industry is changing at an ever-increasing pace.
New inventions, discoveries and developments cause changes in
every facet of the industrial process. In keeping with this
changing technology is the necessity to provide an adequate
guide for the protection of working men and women. This chapter
is for the guidance of both labor and management and to call
particular attention to the way in which modernization and updating
of the standards can be accomplished.
(b) This chapter is intended to cover as fully as is practical
the environment in which work is performed. In addition to the
suggestions made herein, the services of modern occupational
medicine must also be considered. Occupational medicine with
its specialized techniques for examination, diagnosis, and treatment
adds another protection for the worker as he encounters newly-developed
materials and methods.
(c) With the full realization that close cooperation between
government and industry, labor and management, and all the health
sciences, is essential, this chapter is promulgated for the
health of all the workmen coming under the jurisdiction of the
department of labor and industries.
(d) This chapter is promulgated in accordance with the applicable
requirements as outlined in the Washington State Administrative
Procedure Act (chapter 34.04 RCW) and other applicable statutes.
The rules in this chapter are designed to protect the health
of employees and help to create a healthy workplace by establishing
requirements to control health hazards. Requirements for chemical
hazard communication programs, workplace lighting levels and exposure
records are in chapter
296-800 WAC, the safety and health core rules.
WAC
296-62-020 Definitions applicable to all sections of this
chapter.
Unless the context indicates otherwise, words used in this chapter
shall have the meaning given in this section.
(1) “Adequate” or “effective”
means compliance with terms and intent of these standards.
(2) “Appendix” means references or recommendations
to be used as guides in applying the provisions of this chapter.
(3) “Approved” means approved by
the director of the department of labor and industries or his
authorized representative, or by an organization that’s
specifically named in a rule, such as Underwriters’ Laboratories
(UL), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), or the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
(4) “Authorized person” means a person approved
or assigned by the employer to perform a specific type of duty
or duties or to be at a specific location or locations at the
job site.
(5) “Coal tar pitch volatiles” as used in
WAC
296-62-07515, Table I, include the fused polycyclic hydrocarbons
which volatilize from the distillation residues of coal, petroleum,
(excluding asphalt), wood, and other organic matter. Asphalt (CAS
8052-42-4, and CAS 64742-93-4) is not covered under the “coal
tar pitch volatiles” standard.
(6) “Competent person” means one who is capable
of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings
or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous
to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective
action to eliminate them.
(7) “Department” means the department of labor
and industries.
(8) “Director” means the director of the department
of labor and industries, or his designated representative.
(9) “Employer” means any person, firm, corporation,
partnership, business trust, legal representative, or other business
entity which engages in any business, industry, profession, or
activity in this state and employs one or more employees or who
contracts with one or more persons, the essence of which is the
personal labor of such person or persons and includes the state,
counties, cities, and all municipal corporations, public corporations,
political subdivisions of the state, and charitable organizations:
Provided, That any persons, partnership, or business entity not
having employees, and who is covered by the industrial insurance
act shall be considered both an employer and an employee.
(10) “Hazard” means that condition, potential
or inherent, which can cause injury, death, or occupational disease.
(11) “Occupational disease” means such disease
or infection as arises naturally and proximately out of employment.
(12) “Qualified” means one who, by possession
of a recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing,
or who by extensive knowledge, training, and experience, has successfully
demonstrated ability to solve or resolve problems relating to
the subject matter, the work, or the project.
(13) “Shall” or “must”
means mandatory.
(14) “Should” or “may”
means recommended.
(15) “Suitable” means that which fits, or
has the qualities or qualifications to meet a given purpose, occasion,
condition, function, or circumstance.
(16) “Worker,” “personnel,” “person,”
“employee,” and other terms of like meaning, unless
the context of the provision containing such term indicates otherwise,
mean an employee of an employer who is employed in the business
of their employer whether by way of manual labor or otherwise
and every person in this state who is engaged in the employment
of or who is working under an independent contract the essence
of which is their personal labor for an employer whether by manual
labor or otherwise.
(17) “Work place” means any plant, yard, premises,
room, or other place where an employee or employees are employed
for the performance of labor or service over which the employer
has the right of access or control. This includes, but is not
limited to, all work places covered by industrial insurance under
Title 51 RCW, as now or hereafter amended.
(18) Abbreviations used in this chapter:
(a) “ANSI” means American National Standards
Institute.
(b) “ASHRE” means American Society of Heating
and Refrigeration Engineers.
(c) “BTU” means British thermal unit.
(d) “BTUH” means British thermal unit per
hour.
(e) “CFM” means cubic feet per minute.
(f) “CFR” means Code of Federal Register.
(g) “CGA” means Compressed Gas Association.
(h) “ID” means inside diameter.
(i) “MCA” means Manufacturing Chemist Association
or Chemical Manufacturer Association (CMA).
(j) “NEMA” means National Electrical Manufacturing
Association.
(k) “NFPA” means National Fire Protection
Association.
(l) “OD” means outside diameter.
(m) “WAC” means Washington Administrative
Code.
(n) “WISHA” means Washington Industrial
Safety and Health Act (chapter 80, Laws of 1973).
In the event that any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase
or work of this chapter is declared unconstitutional or invalid
for any reason the remainder of said standard or this chapter
shall not be affected thereby.
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