WAC 296-155-012
Definitions applicable to all sections
of this chapter.
Note:
Unless the context indicates otherwise, words used in this chapter shall have the meaning given in this section. Certain
parts of this chapter contain definitions as they apply to that particular part.
"Approved" means approved by the director of the
department of labor and industries or his/her authorized
representative: Provided, however, That should a provision of
this chapter state that approval by an agency or organization
other than the department of labor and industries is required,
such as Underwriters' Laboratories or the bureau of mines, the
provisions of WAC 296-155-006 shall apply.
"Assistant director" means the individual in charge of
the division of consultation and compliance, department of
labor and industries, or an authorized representative.
"Authorized person" means a person approved or assigned
by the employer to perform a specific type of duty or duties
or be at a specific location or locations at the workplace.
"Competent person" means one who is capable of
identifying existing and predictable hazards in the
surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary,
hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has
authorization to take prompt corrective action to eliminate
them.
"Confined space" means a space that:
(1) Is large enough and so configured that an employee
can bodily enter and perform assigned work; and
(2) Has limited or restricted means for entry or exit
(for example, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers,
vaults, and pits are spaces that may have limited means of
entry); and
(3) Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.
"Construction work" shall mean and include all or any
part of excavation, construction, erection, alteration,
repair, demolition, and dismantling, of buildings and other
structures and all operations in connection therewith; the
excavation, construction, alteration and repair of sewers,
trenches, caissons, conduits, pipe lines, roads and all
operations pertaining thereto; the moving of buildings and
other structures, and to the construction, alteration, repair,
or removal of wharfs, docks, bridges, culverts, trestles,
piers, abutments or any other construction, alteration, repair
or removal work related thereto.
"Defect" means any characteristic or condition which
tends to weaken or reduce the strength of the tool, object, or
structure of which it is a part.
"Department" means the department of labor and
industries.
"Designated person" means "authorized person" as defined
in this section.
"Director" means the director of the department of labor
and industries, or his/her designated representative.
"Division" means the division of consultation and
compliance of the department.
"Employer" means any person, firm, corporation,
partnership, business trust, legal representative, or other
business entity which engages in any business, industry,
profession, or activity in this state and employs one or more
employees or who contracts with one or more persons, the
essence of which is the personal labor of such person or
persons and includes the state, counties, cities, and all
municipal corporations, public corporations, political
subdivisions of the state, and charitable organizations:
Provided, that any person, partnership, or business entity not
having employees, and who is covered by the industrial
insurance act shall be considered both an employer and an
employee.
"Equipment" means all machinery, devices, tools,
facilities, safeguards, and protective construction used in
connection with construction operations.
"Ground fault circuit interrupter" means a fast acting
circuit breaker that is sensitive to very low levels of
current leakage to ground. The device is designed to limit
the electric shock to a current and time duration below that
which can cause serious injury.
"Hazard" means that condition, potential or inherent,
which is likely to cause injury, death, or occupational
disease.
"Hazardous substance" means a substance which, by reason
of being explosive, flammable, poisonous, corrosive,
oxidizing, irritating, or otherwise harmful, is likely to
cause death or injury.
"Maintenance" means the work of keeping a building,
machine, roadway, etc., in a state of good repair.
"Part" means a major division, of this chapter, relating
to a specific topic or topics and containing various sections,
subsections, etc.
"Permit-required confined space (permit space)" means a
confined space that has one or more of the following
characteristics:
(1) Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous
atmosphere;
(2) Contains a material that has the potential for
engulfing an entrant;
(3) Has an internal configuration such that an entrant
could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls
or by a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller
cross-section; or
(4) Contains any other recognized serious safety or
health hazard.
"Qualified" means one who, by possession of a recognized
degree, certificate, or professional standing, or who by
extensive knowledge, training, and experience, has
successfully demonstrated their ability to solve or resolve
problems relating to the subject matter, the work, or the
project.
"Repair" means to restore a building, machine, roadway,
etc., to an original state after damage or decay.
"Safety factor" means the ratio of the ultimate breaking
strength of a member or piece of material or equipment to the
actual working stress or safe load when in use.
"Safety and health standard" means a standard which
requires the adoption or use of one or more practices, means,
methods, operations, or processes reasonably necessary or
appropriate to provide safe or healthful employment and places
of employment.
"Shall" means that the provision(s) of the standard are
mandatory.
"Substantial" means constructed of such strength, of such
material, and of such workmanship, that the object referred to
will withstand all normal wear, shock and usage.
"Standard safeguard" means a device designed and
constructed with the object of removing the hazard of accident
incidental to the machine, appliance, tool, building, or
equipment to which it is attached.
Standard safeguards shall be constructed of either metal
or wood or other suitable material or a combination of these. The final determination of the sufficiency of any safeguard
rests with the director of the department of labor and
industries through the division of consultation and
compliance.
"Suitable" means that which fits, or has the qualities or
qualifications to meet a given purpose, occasion, condition,
function, or circumstance.
"Working day" means a calendar day, except Saturdays,
Sundays, and legal holidays as set forth in RCW 1.16.050, as
now or hereafter amended, and for the purposes of the
computation of time within which an act is to be done under
the provisions of this chapter, shall be computed by excluding
the first working day and including the last working day.
"Worker," "personnel," "man," "person," "employee," and
other terms of like meaning, unless the context of the
provision containing such term indicates otherwise, mean an
employee of an employer who is employed in the business of
their employer whether by way of manual labor or otherwise and
every person in this state who is engaged in the employment of
or who is working under an independent contract the essence of
which is their personal labor for an employer whether by
manual labor or otherwise.
"Work place" means any plant, yard, premises, room, or
other place where an employee or employees are employed for
the performance of labor or service over which the employer
has the right of access or control, and includes, but is not
limited to, all work places covered by industrial insurance
under Title 51 RCW, as now or hereafter amended.
Abbreviations used in this chapter:
"ANSI" means American National Standards Institute.
"API" means American Petroleum Institute.
"ASA" means American Standards Association.
"ASAE" means American Society of Agricultural Engineers.
"ASHRE" means American Society of Heating and
Refrigeration Engineers.
"ASME" means American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
"ASTM" means American Society of Testing and Materials.
"AWS" means American Welding Society.
"BTU" means British thermal unit.
"BTUH" means British thermal unit per hour.
"CFM" means cubic feet per minute.
"CFR" means Code of Federal Register.
"CGA" means Compressed Gas Association.
"CIE" means Commission Internationale de l' Eclairage.
"DOT" means department of transportation.
"FRP" means fiberglass reinforced plastic.
"GPM" means gallons per minute.
"ICC" means Interstate Commerce Commission.
"ID" means inside diameter.
"LPG" means liquefied petroleum gas.
"MCA" means Manufacturing Chemist Association.
"MSHA" means United States Department of Labor, Mine
Safety and Health Administration.
"NBFU" means National Board of Fire Underwriters.
"NEMA" means National Electrical Manufacturing
Association.
"NFPA" means National Fire Protection Association.
"NTP" means normal temperature and pressure.
"OD" means outside diameter.
"PSI" means pounds per square inch.
"PSIA" means pounds per square inch absolute.
"PSIG" means pounds per square inch gauge.
"RMA" means Rubber Manufacturers Association.
"SAE" means Society of Automotive Engineers.
"TFI" means The Fertilizer Institute.
"TSC" means Trailer Standard Code.
"UL" means Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc.
"USASI" means United States of America Standards
Institute.
"USC" means United States Code.
"USCG" means United States Coast Guard.
"WAC" means Washington Administrative Code.
"WISHA" means Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act
of 1973.