(1) Purpose. This part is adopted by the Washington state department
of labor and industries, to implement the provisions of chapter
49.17 RCW and establish minimum health and safety requirements
for cherry harvest camps.
(2) Applicability.
(a) This part applies only to operators of cherry harvest camps
using tents during the cherry harvest season. Operators using
other housing must refer to WAC
296-307-161, Part L, or chapter 246-358
WAC.
(b) Operators with ten or more occupants are required to be
licensed under this part. Operators with nine or less employees
are not required to be licensed, but must comply with these
standards.
(c) For department of health licensing, on-site survey, and
water test fees, see WAC
246-361-990.
For the purposes of this part, the following words and phrases
will have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
“Building” means any structure used or intended
to be used for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy that
may include cooking, eating, sleeping, and sanitation facilities.
“Cherry harvest camp” or “camp”
means a place, area, or piece of land where dwelling units or
campsites are provided by an operator during the cherry harvest.
“Common food-handling facility” means an area
designated by the operator for occupants to store, prepare, cook,
and eat their own food supplies.
“Current certificate (first aid)” means a
first-aid training certificate that has not expired.
“Department” means the Washington state department
of health and/or the department of labor and industries.
“Dining hall” means a cafeteria-type eating
place with food furnished by and prepared under the direction
of the operator for consumption, with or without charge, by occupants.
“Drinking fountain” means a fixture equal
to a nationally recognized standard or a designed-to-drain faucet,
which provides potable drinking water under pressure. “Drinking
fountain” does not mean a bubble-type water dispenser.
“Dwelling unit” means a shelter, building,
or portion of a building, that may include cooking and eating
facilities, which is:
Provided and designated by the operator as either a sleeping
area, living area, or both, for occupants; and
Physically separated from other sleeping and common-use areas.
Note: For the purpose of this Part L1, a “tent”
is considered a dwelling unit.
“First-aid qualified” means that the person
holds a current certificate of first-aid training from the American
Red Cross or another course with equivalent content or hours.
“Food-handling facility” means a designated,
enclosed area for preparation of food.
“Group A water system” means a public water
system and includes community and noncommunity water systems.
(a) A community water system means any Group A water system
providing service to fifteen or more service connections used
by year-round residents for one hundred eighty or more days
within a calendar year, regardless of the number of people,
or regularly serving at least twenty-five year-round (i.e.,
more than one hundred eighty days per year) residents.
(b) A noncommunity water system means a Group A water system
that is not a community water system. Noncommunity water systems
are further defined as:
(i) Nontransient (NTNC) water system that provides service
opportunity to twenty-five or more of the same nonresidential
people for one hundred eighty or more days within a calendar
year.
(ii) Transient (TNC) water system that services:
Twenty-five or more different people each day for sixty
or more days within a calendar year;
Twenty-five or more of the same people each day for sixty
or more days, but less than one hundred eighty days within
a calendar year; or
One thousand or more people for two or more consecutive
days within a calendar year.
“Group B water system” means a public water
system:
(a) Constructed to serve less than fifteen residential services
regardless of the number of people; or
(b) Constructed to serve an average nonresidential population
of less than twenty-five per day for sixty or more days within
a calendar year; or
(c) Any number of people for less than sixty days within a
calendar year.
“Health officer” means the individual appointed
as such for a local health department under chapter 70.05 RCW
or appointed as the director of public health of a combined city-county
health department under chapter 70.08 RCW.
“Livestock” means horses, cows, pigs, sheep,
goats, poultry, etc.
“Livestock operation” means any place, establishment,
or facility consisting of pens or other enclosures in which livestock
is kept for purposes including, but not limited to, feeding, milking,
slaughter, watering, weighing, sorting, receiving, and shipping.
Livestock operations include, among other things, dairy farms,
corrals, slaughterhouses, feedlots, and stockyards. Operations
where livestock can roam on a pasture over a distance may be treated
as outside the definition.
“MSPA” means the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural
Worker Protection Act (96 Stat. 2583; 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1801 et seq.).
“Occupant” means a temporary worker or a person
who resides with a temporary worker at the campsite.
“Operating license” means a document issued
annually by the department of health or contracted health officer
authorizing the use of temporary worker housing.
“Operator” means a person holding legal title
to the land on which the camp is located. However, if the legal
title and the right to possession are in different persons, “operator”
means a person having the lawful control or supervision over the
camp.
“Recreational park trailers” means a trailer-type
unit that is primarily designed to provide temporary living quarters
for recreational, camping, or seasonal use, that meets the following
criteria:
Built on a single chassis, mounted on wheels;
Having a gross trailer area not exceeding 400 square feet
(37.15 square meters) in the set-up mode; and
Certified by the manufacturer as complying with ANSI A119.5.
“Recreational vehicle” means a vehicular-type
unit primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational
camping, travel, or seasonal use that either has its own motive
of power or is mounted on, or towed by, another vehicle. Recreational
vehicles include: Camping trailers, fifth-wheel trailers, motor
homes, travel trailers, and truck campers, but does not include
pickup trucks with camper shells, canopies or other similar coverings.
“Refuse” means solid wastes, rubbish, or garbage.
“Temporary worker” means an agricultural employee
employed intermittently and not residing year-round at the same
site.
“Tent” means an enclosure or shelter constructed
of fabric or pliable material composed of rigid framework to support
tensioned membrane that provides the weather barrier.
“WISHA” means the Washington Industrial Safety
and Health Act, chapter 49.17 RCW, administered by the Washington
state department of labor and industries.
An operator may request technical assistance from the department
of health or the department of labor and industries to assist
in compliance with this part.
A cherry tent camp license is limited to twenty-one days.
The operator:
(1) Must request a license from the department of health or health
officer when:
(a) The camp will house ten or more occupants;
(b) Compliance with MSPA requires a license; or
(c) Construction of camp buildings requires a license under
chapter 246-359 WAC, Temporary worker housing construction standard.
(2) Must apply for an operating license at least forty-five days
prior to either the use of the camp or the expiration of an existing
operating license by submitting to the department of health or
health officer:
(a) A completed application on a form provided by the department
or health officer;
(b) Proof water system is current with all water tests required
by chapter 246-290
or 246-291
WAC; and
Conditions may exist in operations that a state standard will
not have practical use. The director of the department of labor
and industries may issue a variance from the requirements of the
standard when another means of providing equal protection is provided.
The substitute means must provide equal protection in accordance
with the requirements of chapter 49.17 RCW and chapter
296-350 WAC, variances.
Applications for variances will be reviewed and may be investigated
by the department of labor and industries and the department of
health. Variances granted will be limited to the specific case
or cases covered in the application and may be revoked for cause.
The variance must remain prominently posted on the premises while
in effect.
Variance application forms may be obtained from the Department
of Labor and Industries, P.O. Box 44625, Olympia, Washington 98504-4625
or the Department of Health, P.O. Box 47852, Olympia, Washington
98504-7852, upon request. Requests for variances from safety and
health standards must be made in writing to the director or the
assistant director, Department of Labor and Industries, P.O. Box
44625, Olympia, Washington 98504-4625. (Reference RCW 49.17.080
and 49.17.090.)
(1) Locate and operate a site to prevent a health or safety hazard
that is:
(a) Adequately drained and any drainage from and through the
camp must not endanger any domestic or public water supply;
(b) Free from periodic flooding and depressions in which water
may become a nuisance;
(c) At least two hundred feet from a swamp, pool, sink hole,
or other surface collection of water unless there is a mosquito
prevention program for those areas;
(d) Large enough to prevent overcrowding of necessary structures.
The principal camp area for sleeping and for food preparation
and eating must be at least five hundred feet from where livestock
are kept; and
(e) Maintained in a clean and sanitary condition.
(2) Develop and implement a cherry harvest camp management plan
and rules for camps with ten or more occupants, to assure that
the camp is operated in a safe and secure manner and is kept within
the approved capacity. Additionally, the licensed operator must:
(a) Inform residents of the rules, in a language the resident
understands by providing individual copies of the rules to each
camp resident or posting the rules in the camp area; and
(b) Restrict the number of occupants in the camp to the capacity
as determined by the department.
(3) When closing the camp permanently or for the season, complete
the following:
(a) Dispose of all refuse to prevent nuisance;
(b) Fill all abandoned toilet pits with earth; and
(c) Leave the grounds and buildings in a clean and sanitary
condition.
(a) Approved as a Group A public water system in compliance
with chapter 246-290
WAC if the water system supplies fifteen or more connections
or twenty-five or more people at least sixty days per year or
provide proof the camp receives water from an approved Group
A public water system; or
(b) Approved as a Group B water system in compliance with chapter
246-291
WAC if the water system supplies less than fifteen connections
and does not supply twenty-five or more people at least sixty
days per year.
Note: A “same farm exemption”
applies to a public water system with four or fewer connections
all of which serve residences on the same farm. “Same
farm” means a parcel of land or series of parcels that
are connected by covenants and devoted to the production of
livestock or agricultural commodities for commercial purposes
and does not qualify as a Group A water system.
Avg. of less than
25 people
Avg. of 25 or
more people
At least 60 days
or more
Group B
Group A TNC
59 days or less
Group B
Group B
Note: If a system has 15 or more connections,
regardless of the population, it is a Group A water system.
(2) Provide an adequate and convenient hot and cold water supply
for drinking, cooking, bathing, and laundry purposes.
Note: An “adequate water supply”
means the storage capacity of the potable water system must meet
the requirements of ASHRAE 1999 Applications Handbook, chapter
48, Water Systems.
(3) Ensure that the distribution lines are able to maintain the
working pressure of the water piping system at not less than fifteen
pounds per square inch after allowing for friction and other pressure
losses.
(4) When water is not piped to each dwelling unit, provide cold,
potable, running water under pressure within one hundred feet
of each dwelling unit.
(5) When water sources are not available in each individual tent,
provide one or more drinking fountains for each one hundred occupants
or fraction thereof. Prohibit the use of common drinking cups
or containers from which water is dipped or poured.
(6) When water is unsafe for drinking purposes and accessible
to occupants, post a sign by the source reading “Do not
drink. Do not use for washing. Do not use for preparing food”
printed in English and in the native language of the persons occupying
the camp, or marked with easily understood pictures or symbols.
(1) Provide sewage disposal systems in accordance with local
health jurisdictions.
(2) Connect all drain, waste, and vent systems from buildings
to:
(a) Public sewers, if available; or
(b) Approved on-site sewage disposal systems that are designed,
constructed, and maintained as required in chapters 246-272
and 173-240
WAC, and local ordinances.
(a) The operator must supply electricity to all dwelling units,
kitchen facilities, bathroom facilities, common areas, and laundry
facilities.
(b) All electrical wiring, fixtures and electrical equipment
must comply with department of labor and industries regulations,
chapter 19.28 RCW and local ordinances, and maintained in a
safe condition.
(2) Electricity requirements in tents.
(a) Each individual tent must have at least one separate floor-type
or wall-type convenience outlet. If the operator provides a
refrigerator in the tent, a dedicated outlet must be provided
for it.
(b) All electrical wiring and equipment installed in tents
must meet the requirements of WAC
296-45-045.
(c) All electrical appliances to be connected to the electrical
supply must meet the requirements for the load calculations
as required by chapter 19.28 RCW.
(d) Electrical wiring exiting the tent to connect to the GFI
outside outlet must be placed in approved flexible conduit not
to exceed six feet in length.
(e) All wiring located inside the tent must be placed in conduit
for protection and connected to a surface to secure the wiring
to prevent movement. Wiring must be located to prevent tripping
or safety hazards.
(f) Receptacles and lighting fixtures must be UL Listed and
approved by the department for use in the tent.
(3) General lighting requirements.
(a) The operator must provide adequate lighting sufficient
to carry on normal daily activities in all common use areas.
(b) Laundry and toilet rooms and rooms where people congregate
must have at least one ceiling-type or wall-type fixture. Where
portable toilets are used, lighting requirements can be met
by area illumination.
(c) The operator must provide adequate lighting for safe passage
for camp occupants to handwashing sinks and toilets.
(d) The operator must provide adequate lighting for shower
rooms during hours of operation.
Note: Lighting requirements may be met
by natural or artificial means.
(4) Lighting requirements in tents.
(a) Tents must have adequate lighting sufficient to carry on
all normal daily activities. For example: Three 100-watt bulbs
located at the top ridge of the frame and are UL Listed or equivalent.
(b) Each tent must have at least one ceiling-type light fixture.
(c) Food preparation areas, if located in the tent, must have
at least one lighting fixture located to provide task lighting
over the food preparation area.
(d) Alternate lighting appliances must provide adequate lighting.
In addition, if using two or more propane, butane, or white
gas lighting appliances, a carbon monoxide monitor must be provided
and located not more than thirty inches from the floor.
(1) Tents must provide protection from the elements.
(2) Structural stability and floors.
(a) Tents and their supporting framework must be adequately
braced and anchored to prevent weather related collapse. Documentation
of the structural stability must be furnished to the department.
(b) Floors must be smooth, flat, and without breaks or holes
to provide a hard, stable walking surface. Nonrigid flooring
supported by grass, dirt, soil, gravel, etc., are not acceptable.
Floors that are constructed of wood or concrete must comply
with the building code, chapter 19.27 RCW or temporary worker
housing construction standard, chapter 246-359
WAC.
(c) Floor systems must be designed to prevent the entrance
of snakes and rodents.
(3) Flame-retardant treatments.
(a) The sidewalls, drops, and tops of tents must be composed
of flame-resistant material or treated with a flame retardant
in an approved manner.
(b) Floor coverings, which are integral to the tent, and the
bunting must be composed of flame-resistant material or treated
with a flame retardant in an approved manner and in accordance
with Uniform Building Code, Standard 31.1.
(c) All tents must have a permanently affixed label bearing
the following information:
(i) Identification of tent size and fabric or material type;
(ii) For flame-resistant materials, the necessary information
to determine compliance with this section and National Fire
Protection Association Standard 701, Standard Methods of Fire
Tests for Flame-resistant Textiles and Films;
(iii) For flame-retardant materials, the date that the tent
was last treated with an approved flame-retardant;
(iv) The trade name and type of flame-retardant utilized
in the flame-retardant treatment; and
(v) The name of the person and firm that applied the flame
retardant.
(4) Means of egress.
(a) At least one door must lead to the outside of the tent
and the area designated for refuge must be accessible and remain
clear of storage materials or hazards.
(b) The door must not be obstructed in any manner and must
remain free of any material or matter where its presence would
obstruct or render the exit hazardous.
(c) If cooking facilities are provided in tents, the window
located opposite the door must have a means to open the window
or provide an easily openable space. For example, a zipper which
opens downward toward the floor.
(5) Floor area. The operator must:
(a) If cooking facilities are provided in the tent, provide
at least seventy square feet of floor space for one occupant
and fifty square feet for each additional occupant; or
(b) If cooking facilities are not provided in the tent, provide
at least fifty square feet of floor space for each occupant
in rooms used for sleeping purposes.
(6) Ceiling height.
(a) If the tent has a sloped ceiling, a ceiling height of at
least seven feet is required in fifty percent of the total area.
(b) No portion of the tent measuring less than six feet from
the flooring to the ceiling will be included in any computation
of the minimum floor area.
(7) Windows and ventilation.
(a) Provide a window area equal to one-tenth of the total floor
area in each habitable room which opens at least halfway or
more directly to the outside for cross-ventilation and has sixteen-mesh
screens on all exterior openings.
(b) The windows must have weather-resistant flaps, which will
cover the window area and a means of fastening the flaps to
provide protection from the elements and allow privacy for the
occupants.
WAC
296-307-16360 Handwashing and bathing facilities. An operator
must:
(1) Provide one handwash sink for every six persons in centralized
facilities. Handwash sinks must be adjacent to toilets;
(2) Provide one showerhead for every ten persons in centralized
facilities;
(3) Provide one “service sink” in each building used
for centralized laundry, handwashing, or bathing;
(4) Provide sloped, coved floors of nonslip impervious materials
with floor drains;
(5) Provide walls that are smooth and nonabsorbent to the height
of four feet. If partitions are used, they must be smooth and
nonabsorbent to the height of four feet;
(6) Provide all showers, baths, and shower rooms with floor drains
to remove wastewater;
(7) Provide cleanable, nonabsorbent waste containers;
(8) Maintain bathing and handwashing facilities in a clean and
sanitary condition, cleaned at least daily;
(9) Ensure shower facilities provide privacy from the opposite
sex and the public;
(10) Make showers and bathing facilities available when needed.
(1) General toilet requirements. Operators must provide flush
toilets, chemical toilets, or pit privies. The department of health
or health officer, according to requirements in chapter
246-272 WAC, must approve pit privies. The operator must comply
with the following:
(a) Flush toilets, chemical toilets, and urinals must not be
located in any tent.
(b) When chemical toilets are provided, they must be:
(i) Located at least fifty feet from any dwelling unit or
food-handling facility;
(ii) Maintained by a licensed waste disposal company; and
(iii) Comply with local ordinances.
(c) When urinals are provided:
(i) There must be one urinal or two linear feet of urinal
trough for each twenty-five men;
(ii) The floors and walls surrounding a urinal and extending
out at least fifteen inches on all sides must be constructed
of materials which will not be adversely affected by moisture;
(iii) The urinal must have an adequate water flush where
water under pressure is available; and
(iv) Urinal troughs are prohibited in pit privies.
(d) When pit privies are approved they must be:
(i) At least one hundred feet away from any dwelling unit
or food-handling facility; and
(ii) Constructed to exclude insects and rodents from the
pit.
(2) Centralized toilet facilities. The operator must meet the
following requirements when centralized toilet facilities are
provided:
(a) Provide toilet rooms with:
(i) One toilet for every fifteen persons;
(ii) One handwashing sink for every six persons;
(iii) Either a window of at least six square feet opening
directly to the outside, or be satisfactorily ventilated;
and
(iv) All outside openings screened with sixteen-mesh material.
(b) Locate toilet rooms so that:
(i) Toilets are within two hundred feet of the door of each
tent; and
(ii) No person has to pass through a sleeping room to reach
a toilet room;
(c) Maintain toilets in a clean and sanitary condition, cleaned
at least daily;
(d) Provide each toilet compartment with an adequate supply
of toilet paper;
(e) When shared facilities will be used for both men and women:
(i) Provide separate toilet rooms for each sex with a minimum
of one toilet room for each sex and meet the required ratios
as defined in (a) of this subsection;
(ii) Identify each room “men” and “women”
with signs printed in English and in the native language of
the persons occupying the camp, or identified with easily
understood pictures or symbols; and
(iii) Separate facilities by solid walls or partitions extending
from the floor to the roof or ceiling when facilities for
each sex are located in the same building.
The operator must provide enclosed or screened cooking and food-handling
facilities for all occupants. The operator must provide adequate
tables and seating for occupants.
(1) If the operator provides cooking facilities in tents, the
operator must provide:
(a) An operable cook stove or hot plate with at least one cooking
surface for every four occupants;
(b) A sink with hot and cold running potable water under pressure
at each tent site;
(c) At least two (2) cubic feet of dry food storage space per
occupant;
(d) Nonabsorbent, easily cleanable food preparation counters
situated off the floor;
(e) Mechanical refrigeration conveniently located and able
to maintain a temperature of forty-five degrees Fahrenheit or
below, with at least one (1) cubic foot of storage space per
occupant; and
(f) Adequate ventilation for cooking facilities.
(2) If the operator provides common food-handling facilities,
the operator must provide:
(a) A room or building, adequate in size, separate from any
tent;
(b) No direct openings to living or sleeping areas from the
common food-handling facility;
(c) An operable cook stove or hot plate with at least one cooking
surface for every four occupants, or four cooking surfaces for
every two families;
(d) Sinks with hot and cold running potable water under pressure;
(e) At least two (2) cubic feet of dry food storage space per
occupant;
(f) Nonabsorbent, easily cleanable food preparation counters
situated off the floor;
(g) Mechanical refrigeration conveniently located and able
to maintain a temperature of forty-five degrees Fahrenheit or
below, with at least one (1) cubic foot of storage space per
occupant;
(h) Fire-resistant, nonabsorbent, nonasbestos, and easily cleanable
wall coverings adjacent to cooking areas;
(i) Nonabsorbent, easily cleanable floors; and
(j) Adequate ventilation for cooking facilities.
(3) The operator must ensure that dining hall facilities comply
with chapter 246-215 WAC, Food service.
(1) Comply with chapters 15.58 and 17.21 RCW and chapters 16-228
and
296-307 WAC, Part I and J,
and pesticide label instructions when using pesticides in and
around the camp;
(2) Prohibit, in the housing area, the use, storage, and mixing
of flammable, volatile, or toxic substances other than those intended
for household use;
(3) Provide readily accessible first-aid equipment;
(4) Ensure that a first-aid qualified person is readily accessible
to administer first aid at all times;
(5) Store or remove unused refrigerator units to prevent access
by children.
(1) Report immediately to the local health officer the name and
address of any individual in the camp known to have or suspected
of having a communicable disease;
(2) Report immediately to the local health officer:
(a) Suspected food poisoning;
(b) An unusual prevalence of fever, diarrhea, sore throat,
vomiting, or jaundice; or
(c) Productive cough, or when weight loss is a prominent symptom
among occupants.
(3) Prohibit any individual with a communicable disease from
preparing, cooking, serving, or handling food, foodstuffs, or
materials in dining halls.
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