WAC 296-54-521
Motor vehicles. (1) The seats of each
vehicle must be securely fastened.
(2) Each school bus type vehicle that will transport nine
or more passengers must have a substantial barricade behind
the driver. The barricade must extend from the floor to at
least a level even with the top of the driver's head.
(3) Adequate provision must be made for safe entrance and
exits. Each vehicle must have mounting steps and handholds
wherever it is necessary to prevent an employee injury when
entering or leaving the vehicle.
(4) When equipment or tools are carried inside the
vehicle, the employer must provide and use racks, boxes,
holsters or other means to transport tools so that a hazard is
not created for any vehicle operator or passenger.
(5) No one may enter or exit any vehicle until the
vehicle is completely stopped.
(6) Employees must keep all parts of the body within the
vehicle.
(7) Heat and light must be available in the passenger
area of the vehicle. Use of stoves in vehicles is prohibited.
(8) Vehicles designed to transport nine or more
passengers must have an emergency exit that:
(a) Is at least six and one-half square feet in area,
with the smallest dimension being at least eighteen inches;
(b) Is placed at the back of the vehicle or near the back
on the side opposite the regular entrance; and
(c) Has an unobstructed route to and from the exit.
(9) When no fuel is transported in the crew vehicle, a
minimum rated 5/BC dry chemical fire extinguisher must be kept
in the passenger compartment. When fuel is transported on the
crew vehicle according to subsection (12) of this section, a
minimum rated 10/BC dry chemical fire extinguisher must be
kept in the passenger compartment. The extinguishing agent
must be nontoxic and preferably noncorrosive.
Note:
For additional requirements relating to portable fire extinguishers see WAC 296-800-300.
(10) Exhaust systems must be designed and maintained to
eliminate the exposure of passengers to toxic agents.
(11) Operating and maintenance instructions must be
available in each vehicle. Each vehicle operator and
maintenance employee must comply with the operating and
maintenance instructions.
(12) Fuel must be transported or stored only in approved
safety containers. Enclosed areas where fuels are carried or
stored must be vented so that a hazardous concentration of
fumes cannot accumulate. All containers or drums must be
properly secured to the vehicle while being transported. Commercially built pick-up or flatbed trucks with a maximum
seating capacity of six persons may be used to carry fuel in
or on the bed of such vehicles, if the fuel is not carried in
the crew compartment. Van-type vehicles may be used to carry
fuel only when a vapor-proof bulkhead is installed between the
passenger compartment and storage compartment. A maximum of
forty-two gallons of gasoline may be carried or stored in the
compartment and each container must have a maximum capacity
seven gallons.
(13) Motor vehicles used regularly to transport employees
must be covered against the weather and equipped and operated
according to applicable state of Washington motor vehicle
laws.
(14) All operators of crew vehicles must be experienced
drivers and have a valid operator's license for the class of
vehicle being operated.
(15) Dump trucks must only be used in an emergency to
transport workers and have adequate safety chains or locking
devices that eliminate the possibility of the body of the
truck being raised while employees are riding in the truck. "Emergency" means any unforeseen circumstances that call for
immediate action when danger to life or danger from fire
exists.
(16) An effective means of signaling must be provided for
communication between the driver and the passengers being
transported when they are in separate compartments.
(17) The passenger load limit of a crew vehicle must not
exceed the seating capacity of the vehicle.