Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.010
Pressure defined
The term "pressure" means gauge air pressure in pounds per square inch.
Revised Code of Washington Chapter 49.24 — Health and Safety—Underground Workers
Washington · statute · Wash. Rev. Code ch. 49.24 · 36 active provisions
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.020
Compressed air safety requirements
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 keep such instruments in charge of competen…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.030
Medical and nursing attendants
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 RCW 49.24.020(9) a certified nurse selec…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.040
Examination as to physical fitness
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 49.24.030(1) shall examine him or her and…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.060
Penalty
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 imprisonment for up to three hundred sixty-f…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.070
Enforcement
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, an order requiring compliance with a spe…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.080
Requirements for underground labor
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 be selected by the crew on each shift w…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.100
Lighting appliances
(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 used shall be guarded by a wire cage la…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.110
Exhaust valves
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 cleared, for at least thirty minutes.
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.120
Fire prevention
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 within reasonable distance of all caisso…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.130
Air chambers—Hanging walks
(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 pressure in the outer chamber shall not exce…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.140
Locks
(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 shall be large enough so that those using i…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.150
Explosives and detonators
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.
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.160
Air plant—Feed water
(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 hours' supply unless connection can be mad…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.170
Electric power requirements
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. Such power feeders shall each have a capac…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.180
Inspection
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, buckets, hoists, cables, ropes, timber…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.190
Cars, cages, buckets—Employees riding or walking
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.
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.200
Speed of vehicles
No vehicle shall be operated underground at a speed greater than five miles an hour, while construction work is going on.
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.210
Oil supply restricted
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.
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.220
Explosives, use of—Blasting
(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 detonators shall be taken separately into the…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.230
Firing switch—Warning by blaster
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 less than five feet in length with one…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.240
Inspection after blast
(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 ground removed and the chamber made safe b…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.250
Code of signals
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 them to the attention of all persons affect…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.260
Requirements as to caissons
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 of shafting. The length of the ladder r…
Wash. Rev. Code § 49.24.270
Shields to be provided
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 feet below the deck of the working chamber,…
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