Member Center
Blog Central
Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash.
Print
E-Mail
tool name
close
tool goes here
Thursday, Jun. 05, 2008
New rules to help workers keep cool
By Pratik Joshi, Herald staff writer
The state Labor and Industries Department's new requirements to help protect workers from outdoor heat exposure goes into effect July 5.
The permanent rule has been simplified from its earlier version to remove any potential ambiguity, said Judy Schurke, director of the department, during a conference call Wednesday.
It eliminates the need for employers to maintain temperature records, a provision that had riled many business groups, particularly the Building Industry Association of Washington.
The new rule also has removed unnecessary details about training and educating workers on heat-stress issues and simplified its implementation with employers' existing accident prevention programs. Also, the new rule will be enforced from May 1 through Sept. 30, not year-round as many mistakenly thought, Schurke said.
An emergency rule had been in effect for the last two summers.
The changes were made because of the public comments the department received, she said, adding that some even felt the rule wasn't needed.
But the rule is necessary because it relates to workplace safety, Schurke said. Working outdoors in hot weather is a health hazard that can result in serious medical conditions, including disability or death. The rule will help save lives, she said.
Since 1997, four Washington workers have died from heat stroke, and hundreds have sought medical treatment for their illnesses.
The rule says employers must provide at least a quart of water per hour per employee and give them access to shaded rest areas in addition to having a written plan to prevent heat-related illnesses.
The rule is triggered at 89 degrees for those working in direct sun wearing regular clothes, at 77 degrees for workers in double-layered clothing and at 52 degrees for working donning special protective covering.
Last year, there were 860 violations with assessed penalties of $7,670, said Elaine Fischer, spokeswoman for L&I.
In most cases, employers hadn't taken steps to address heat-stress issues or hadn't trained employees, she said.
There'll be no new costs for most employers who have been following the rule, Fischer said. And for businesses in Eastern Washington that are new to addressing heat stress-related hazards it'll cost about $1,174 to $1,215 per season for an employer with 20 workers to put a mechanism in place to develop procedures, train employees and provide them water.
She said the rule will affect an estimated 27 percent of about 168,000 Washington employers, particularly in agriculture, forestry, construction, manufacturing, landscaping, utilities and warehousing.
Be the first to comment on this story click the 'Add Comment' Tab!
Tri-City Herald is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since tri-cityherald.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not Tri-City Herald.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon (!) will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
Most Recently Commented Stories
