WAC 296-59-050   Personal protective equipment, general requirements.  (1) Application.

     (a) Protective equipment, including personal protective equipment for eyes, face, head, and extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields and barriers, shall be provided at no cost to the employee, used, and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever it is indicated by reason of hazards of processes or environment, chemical hazards, radiological hazards, or mechanical irritants encountered in a manner capable of causing injury or impairment in the function of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation, or physical contact.

     (b) Employee-owned equipment. Where employees provide their own protective equipment, the employer shall be responsible to assure its adequacy, including proper maintenance, and sanitation of such equipment.

     (c) Design, construction, testing, and use of personal protective equipment shall comply with the requirements of the safety and health core rules, WAC 296-800-160; the Occupational health standards -- Safety standards for carcinogens, chapter 296-62 WAC; or the currently applicable ANSI standard.

     (2) Eye and face protection. Eye and face protective equipment shall be provided and worn where there is exposure in the work process or environment to hazard of injury, which can be prevented by such equipment.

     (3) Occupational head protection. Employees working in areas where there is a possible danger of head injury from impact, or from falling or flying objects, or from electrical shock and burns, shall be protected by protective helmets, i.e., a lift operator would not be required to use a hardhat while operating the lift. However, if that same person is assisting with maintenance operations and is working under a tower where overhead work is being done, that operator would now be required to wear an approved helmet.

     (a) Helmets for the protection of employees against impact and/or penetration of falling and flying objects shall meet the specifications contained in American National Standards Institute, Z89.1-1986, Safety Requirements for Industrial Head Protection.

     (b) Helmets for the head protection of employees exposed to high voltage electrical shock and burns shall meet the specifications contained in American National Standards Institute, Z89.2-1971, Safety Requirements for Industrial Protective Helmets for Electrical Workers, Class B.

     (c) Approved head protection shall be worn by operators of snowmobiles and other mobile oversnow equipment which is not equipped with a rigid metal operator's cab.

     (4) Occupational foot protection.

     (a) Substantial footwear appropriate for the work conditions encountered shall be worn by all employees.

     (b) Where the job assignment includes exposure to slipping hazards, soles and heels of footwear shall be of such material and design as to reduce the hazard of slipping.

     (5) Safety belts, lifelines, lanyards, and nets.

     (a) Safety belts, lifelines, and lanyards which meet the requirements of ANSI A10.14 shall be provided and used whenever employees are working in locations which expose them to a fall of more than ten feet. The particular work location and application shall dictate which type of belt or harness and length of lanyard is used.

     (b) Lifelines shall be secured to an anchorage or structural member capable of supporting a minimum dead weight of five thousand four hundred pounds.

     (c) Lifelines used on rock scaling applications or in areas where the lifeline may be subjected to cutting or abrasion shall be a minimum of seven-eighths inch wire core manila rope or equivalent. For all other lifeline applications, three-fourths inch manila rope or equivalent with a minimum break strength of five thousand four hundred pounds may be used.

     (d) Each safety belt lanyard shall be a minimum of one-half inch nylon, or equivalent, with a minimum of five thousand four hundred pounds breaking strength.

     (e) Employees will not be required to wear a safety belt and lanyard while riding on a standard lift chair while seated in the normal riding position.

     (f) Safety nets meeting the requirements of ANSI A10.11 shall be used when other acceptable forms of fall protection are not useable. When used, safety nets shall extend a minimum of eight feet beyond the edge offering exposure, shall be hung with sufficient clearance to prevent user's contact with surfaces or objects below, and shall not be more than twenty-five feet below the fall exposure edge.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.060. 09-05-071, § 296-59-050, filed 2/17/09, effective 4/1/09. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, [49.17].040, and[49.17].050 . 01-11-038, § 296-59-050, filed 5/9/01, effective 9/1/01. Statutory Authority: Chapter 49.17 RCW. 88-14-108 (Order 88-11), § 296-59-050, filed 7/6/88.]