Section 296-850-145 - Hygiene areas and practices(1)General. For each employee working in a beryllium work area, who can reasonably be expected to have dermal contact with beryllium, or who is required to use personal protective clothing or equipment by this rule in construction work, ship breaking, ship building, or ship repairing, the employer must:(a) Provide readily accessible washing facilities in accordance with this standard and other applicable sanitation standards (WAC 296-800-230 Summary (drinking water, bathrooms, washing facilities and waste disposal); WAC 296-155-140 Sanitation; WAC 296-304-06002 Sanitation) to remove beryllium from the hands, face, and neck; and(b) Ensure that employees who have dermal contact with beryllium wash any exposed skin at the end of the activity, process, or work shift and prior to eating, drinking, smoking, chewing tobacco or gum, applying cosmetics, or using the toilet.(2)Change rooms. In addition to the requirements of subsection (1)(a) of this section, the employer must provide employees who are required to use personal protective clothing or equipment under WAC 296-850-140(1)(b) with a designated change room in accordance with this standard and other applicable sanitation standards (WAC 296-800-230 Summary (drinking water, bathrooms, washing facilities and waste disposal); WAC 296-155-140 Sanitation; WAC 296-304-06002 Sanitation) where employees are required to remove their personal clothing.(3)Showers.(a) The employer must provide showers in accordance with other applicable sanitation standards (WAC 296-800-230 Summary (drinking water, bathrooms, washing facilities and waste disposal); WAC 296-155-140 Sanitation; WAC 296-304-06002 Sanitation) where: (i) Airborne exposure exceeds, or can reasonably be expected to exceed, the TWA PEL or STEL; and(ii) Employees' hair or body parts other than hands, face, and neck can reasonably be expected to become contaminated with beryllium.(b) Employers required to provide showers must ensure that each employee showers at the end of the work shift or work activity if:(i) The employee reasonably could have had airborne exposure above the TWA PEL or STEL; and(ii) The employee's hair or body parts other than hands, face, and neck could reasonably have become contaminated with beryllium.(4)Eating and drinking areas. Wherever the employer allows employees to consume food or beverages at a worksite where beryllium is present, the employer must ensure that: (a) Beryllium-contaminated surfaces in eating and drinking areas are as free as practicable of beryllium;(b) No employees enter any eating or drinking area with beryllium-contaminated personal protective clothing or equipment unless, prior to entry, it is cleaned, as necessary, to be as free as practicable of beryllium by methods that do not disperse beryllium into the air or onto an employee's body; and(c) Eating and drinking facilities provided by the employer are in accordance with other applicable sanitation standards (WAC 296-800-230 Summary (drinking water, bathrooms, washing facilities and waste disposal); WAC 296-155-140 Sanitation; WAC 296-304-06002 Sanitation).(5)Prohibited activities. The employer must ensure that no employees eat, drink, smoke, chew tobacco or gum, or apply cosmetics in regulated areas and other work areas where there is a reasonable expectation of exposure above the TWA PEL or STEL.Wash. Admin. Code § 296-850-145
Adopted by WSR 18-17-156, Filed 8/21/2018, effective 12/12/2018Amended by WSR 23-07-119, Filed 3/21/2023, effective 4/1/2023