WAC 296-818-20010   Personal protective equipment (PPE).  

     You must:

     • Provide, at no cost to the employee, and make sure personal protective equipment is worn.

     • Follow the requirements in Table-1, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Table-1: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

PROVIDE	WHEN
Abrasive Blasting Respirators	Operators work in any of the following situations:
	– Inside blast cleaning rooms
	– Where silica sand is used in manual blasting operations
	– Where concentrations of toxic dust exceed the permissible exposure limits found in a separate chapter:
	▪ Respiratory hazards, WAC 296-841-20020, Table-3 "Exposure Limits for Air Contaminants"
	Exemption:
	• An abrasive respirator does not need to be worn if the operator is physically separated from the nozzle and blast by an exhaust ventilated enclosure.
	Definition:
	Abrasive-blasting respirator
	A supplied air or a continuous flow respirator constructed to cover and protect the operator's head, neck and shoulders from rebounding abrasive.
Eye and Face protection to both of the following: – Blasting operators	Respirators worn during blasting operations do not provide eye and face protection
– Personnel working near blasting operations
Gloves and Aprons made of heavy canvas or leather;	Operators are exposed to the impact of rebounding abrasives
OR
Equivalent protection

Notes:	• Use only respirators certified by NIOSH in 42 C.F.R. Part 84 for protecting employees from dusts, and other hazards produced during abrasive blasting operations, like:
	– Using a garnet sand to blast a concrete surface, resulting in crystalline silica dust
	• A filtering face piece may be used only for short, intermittent, or occasional dust exposures for any of the following tasks:
	– To protect the operator during abrasive blasting operations performed outside the enclosure or outdoors where nonsilica abrasives are used on materials with low toxicity
	– Clean-up
	– Dumping dust collectors
	– Unloading shipments of sand at receiving areas when the following controls are not feasible:
	▪ Enclosures
	▪ Exhaust ventilation
	OR
	▪ Other means

Reference:	• For additional requirements to help you fully protect employees, go to the following separate chapters:
	– The Safety and health core rules, chapter 296-800 WAC:
	▪ Personal protective equipment (PPE), WAC 296-800-160
	– Respiratory hazards, chapter 296-841 WAC
	– Respirators, chapter 296-842 WAC:
	▪ Respirator program, WAC 296-842-120
	▪ Specifications for air quality, WAC 296-842-200

[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.060. 09-05-071, § 296-818-20010, filed 2/17/09, effective 4/1/09; 06-12-074, § 296-818-20010, filed 6/6/06, effective 9/1/06.]