Title 49 — Title 49 LABOR REGULATIONS

The term "pressure" means gauge air pressure in pounds per square inch.[ 1937 c 131 s 1; RRS s 7666-1.]

Every employer of persons for work in compressed air shall:(1) Connect at least two air pipes with the working chamber and keep such pipes in perfect working condition;(2) Attach to the working chamber in accessible positions all instruments necessary to show its pressure and kee…

Every employer of persons for work in compressed air shall:(1) Keep at the place of work at all necessary times a duly qualified medical officer to care for cases of illness and to administer strictly and enforce RCW 49.24.020 and 49.24.040;(2) Keep at a medical lock required by …

If an employee is a new employee, an absentee for ten or more successive days, an employee who has worked in compressed air continuously for three months or a beginner in compressed air who has worked but a single shift as required by *RCW 49.24.050, the officer required by RCW 4…

Violation of or noncompliance with any provision of *this article by any employer, manager, superintendent, foreman or other person having direction or control of such work shall be a gross misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty dollars or by impr…

The director of labor and industries shall have the power and it shall be the director's duty to enforce the provisions of RCW 49.24.010 through 49.24.070. Any authorized inspector or agent of the department may issue and serve upon the employer or person in charge of such work, …

Every person, firm or corporation constructing, building or operating a tunnel, quarry, caisson or subway, excepting in connection with mines, with or without compressed air, shall in the employment of any labor comply with the following safety provisions:(1) A safety miner shall…

(1) All lighting in compressed air chambers shall be by electricity only. Wherever practicable there shall be two independent lighting systems with independent sources of supply.(2) The exterior of all lamp sockets shall be entirely nonmetallic.(3) All portable incandescent lamps…

Exhaust valves shall be provided, having risers extending to the upper part of chamber, if necessary, and shall be operated at such times as may be required and especially after a blast, and persons shall not be required to resume work after a blast until the gas and smoke have c…

All reasonable precaution shall be taken against fire, and provisions shall be made so that water lines shall be available for use at all times. Fire hose connections with hose connected shall be installed in all power plants and work houses. There shall be fire hose connections …

(1) Whenever the air pressure in a tunnel heading exceeds twenty-one pounds per square inch above atmospheric pressure, two air chambers shall always be in use, except for such time as may be necessary when headings are being started from shafts; and whenever practicable the pres…

(1) Each bulkhead in tunnels of twelve feet or more in diameter or equivalent area, shall have at least two locks in perfect working condition, one of which shall be used as an air lock. An additional lock for use in case of emergency shall be held in reserve.(2) The air lock sha…

When locking explosives and detonators into the air chamber, they shall be kept at opposite ends of the lock. While explosives and detonators are being taken through, no persons other than the lock tender and the carriers shall be permitted in the lock.[ 2009 c 549 s 1014; 1941 c…

(1) A good and sufficient air plant for the compression of air shall be provided to meet not only ordinary conditions, but emergencies, and to provide margin for repairs at all times. Provision must be made for storing in tanks at each boiler house enough feed water for twelve ho…

When electric power is used for running compressors supplying air for compressed air tunnel work and such power is purchased from a local central station or power company—(1) There shall be two or more sources of power from the power company's stations to the compressor plant. Su…

While work is in progress, the employer shall employ a competent person who shall make a regular inspection at least once every working day of all engines, boilers, steam pipes, drills, air pipes, air gauges, air locks, dynamos, electric wiring, signaling apparatus, brakes, cages…

No employee shall ride on any loaded car, cage, or bucket, nor walk up or down any incline or shaft while any car, cage, or bucket is above him or her.[ 2010 c 8 s 12024; 1941 c 194 s 12; Rem. Supp. 1941 s 7666-20.]

No vehicle shall be operated underground at a speed greater than five miles an hour, while construction work is going on.[ 1941 c 194 s 13; Rem. Supp. 1941 s 7666-21.]

Oil for illumination or power shall not be taken into the underground workings of any tunnel or kept therein in greater quantities than one day's supply.[ 1941 c 194 s 14; Rem. Supp. 1941 s 7666-22.]

(1) No greater quantity of explosives than that which is required for immediate use shall be taken into the working chamber.(2) Explosives shall be conveyed in a suitable covered wooden box.(3) Detonators shall be conveyed in a separate covered wooden box.(4) Explosives and deton…

When firing by electricity from power or lighting wires, a proper switch shall be furnished with lever down when "off".The switch shall be fixed in a locked box to which no person shall have access except the blaster. There shall be provided flexible leads or connecting wires not…

(1) After a blast is fired, loosened pieces of rock shall be scaled from the sides of the excavation and after the blasting is completed, the entire working chamber shall be thoroughly scaled.(2) The person in charge shall inspect the working chamber and have all loose rock or gr…

Any code of signals used shall be printed and copies thereof, in such languages as may be necessary to be understood by all persons affected thereby, shall be kept posted in a conspicuous place near entrances to workplaces and in such other places as may be necessary to bring the…

All shafting used in pneumatic caissons shall be provided with ladders, which are to be kept clear and in good condition at all times. The distance between the centers of the rungs of a ladder shall not exceed fourteen inches and shall not vary more than one inch in any one piece…

Wherever, in the prosecution of caisson work in which compressed air is employed, the working chamber is less than twelve feet in length, and when such caissons are at any time suspended or hung while work is in progress, so that the bottom of the excavation is more than nine fee…

All caissons shall be properly and adequately braced before loading with concrete or other weight.[ 1941 c 194 s 21; Rem. Supp. 1941 s 7666-29.]

In all shafts where men are hoisted or lowered, an iron-bonneted cage shall be used for the conveyance of men, but this provision shall not apply to shafts in the process of sinking or during the dismantling of the shaft after work in the tunnel is substantially completed.Cages s…

In all vertical shafts in which hoisting is done by means of a bucket, suitable guides shall be provided when the depth exceeds ten times the diameter or width of the shaft, but in no case shall the maximum depth without guides exceed one hundred and fifty feet. In connection wit…

Where tunnels are driven from shafts more than two hundred and fifty feet deep, a telephone system shall be established and maintained, communicating with the surface at each such shaft, and with a station or stations readily and quickly accessible to the men at the working level…

(1) While work is in progress, tunnels, stairways, ladderways and all places on the surface where work is being conducted, shall be properly lighted. In shafts more than one hundred feet deep, the shaft below that point shall be lighted.(2) All places where hoisting, pumping or o…

The frames and bed plates of generators, transformers, compensators, rheostats and motors installed underground shall be effectively grounded. All metallic coverings, armoring of cables, other than trailing cables, and the neutral wire of three-wire systems shall also be so groun…

In electrical systems installed, no higher voltage than low voltage shall be used underground, except for transmission or other application to transformers, motors, generators or other apparatus in which the whole of the medium or high voltage apparatus is stationary.[ 1941 c 194…

Lamps or other proper lights shall be kept ready for use in all underground stations where a failure of electric light is likely to cause danger.[ 1941 c 194 s 28; Rem. Supp. 1941 s 7666-36.]

(1) All underground cables and wires, unless provided with grounded metallic covering, shall be supported by efficient insulators. The conductors connecting lamps to the power supply shall in all cases be insulated.(2) Cables and wires unprovided with metallic coverings shall not…

The director of labor and industries shall establish such rules and regulations as he or she deems primarily necessary for the safety of the employees employed in tunnels, quarries, caissons, and subways and shall be guided by the most modern published studies and researches made…

Every person violating any of the provisions of RCW 49.24.080 through 49.24.380 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.[ 1941 c 194 s 31; Rem. Supp. 1941 s 7666-38.]