Wash. Admin. Code § 296-62-07470 - Methylene chloride
This occupational health standard establishes requirements
for employers to control
The provisions of the MC standard are as follows:
(1) Scope and application. This section
applies to all occupational exposures to methylene chloride (MC), Chemical
Abstracts Service Registry Number 75-09-2, in general industry, construction
and shipyard employment.
(2)
Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
Methylene chloride (MC). An organic compound with chemical formula, CH2Cl2. Its Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number is 75-09-2. Its molecular weight is 84.9 g/mole.
Physician or other licensed health care professional. An individual whose legally permitted scope of practice (i.e., license, registration, or certification) allows them to independently provide or be delegated the responsibility to provide some or all of the health care services required by subsection (10) of this section.
Symptom. Central nervous system effects such as headaches, disorientation, dizziness, fatigue, and decreased attention span; skin effects such as chapping, erythema, cracked skin, or skin burns; and cardiac effects such as chest pain or shortness of breath.
This section. This methylene chloride standard.
(3) Permissible
exposure limits (PELs).
(a) Eight-hour
time-weighted average (TWA) PEL. The employer must ensure that no employee is
exposed to an airborne concentration of MC in excess of twenty-five parts of MC
per million parts of air (25 ppm) as an eight-hour TWA.
(b) Short-term exposure limit (STEL). The
employer must ensure that no employee is exposed to an airborne concentration
of MC in excess of one hundred and twenty-five parts of MC per million parts of
air (125 ppm) as determined over a sampling period of fifteen
minutes.
(4) Exposure
monitoring.
(a) Characterization of employee
exposure .
(i) Where MC is present in the
workplace, the employer must determine each employee's exposure by either:
(A) Taking a personal breathing zone air
sample of each employee's exposure; or
(B)
Taking personal breathing zone air samples that are
representative of each employee's exposure.
(ii) Representative samples. The employer
may consider personal breathing zone air samples to be representative of
employee exposures when they are taken as follows:
(A)
Eight-hour TWA PEL. The employer has taken one or more personal
breathing zone air samples for at least one employee in each job classification
in a work area during every work shift, and the employee sampled is expected to
have the highest MC exposure.
(B)
Short-term exposure limits. The employer has taken one or more personal
breathing zone air samples which indicate the highest likely fifteen-minute
exposures during such operations for at least one employee in each job
classification in the work area during every work shift, and the employee
sampled is expected to have the highest MC exposure.
(C) Exception. Personal breathing zone air
samples taken during one work shift may be used to represent employee exposures
on other work shifts where the employer can document that the tasks performed
and conditions in the workplace are similar across shifts.
(iii) Accuracy of monitoring. The employer
must ensure that the methods used to perform exposure monitoring produce
results that are accurate to a confidence level of ninety-five percent, and
are:
(A) Within plus or minus twenty-five
percent for airborne concentrations of MC above the eight-hour TWA PEL or the
STEL; or
(B) Within plus or minus
thirty-five percent for airborne concentrations of MC at or above the action
level but at or below the eight-hour TWA PEL.
(b) Initial determination. Each employer
whose employees are exposed to MC must perform initial exposure monitoring to
determine each affected employee's exposure, except under the following
conditions:
(i) Where objective data
demonstrate that MC cannot be released in the workplace in airborne
concentrations at or above the action level or above the STEL. The objective
data must represent the highest MC exposures likely to occur under reasonably
foreseeable conditions of processing, use, or handling. The employer must
document the objective data exemption as specified in subsection (13) of this
section;
(ii) Where the employer
has performed exposure monitoring within twelve months prior to December 1, and
that exposure monitoring meets all other requirements of this section, and was
conducted under conditions substantially equivalent to existing conditions;
or
(iii) Where employees are
exposed to MC on fewer than thirty days per year (e.g., on a construction
site), and the employer has measurements by direct reading instruments which
give immediate results (such as a detector tube) and which provide sufficient
information regarding employee exposures to determine what control measures are
necessary to reduce exposures to acceptable levels.
(c) Periodic monitoring. Where the initial
determination shows employee exposures at or above the action level or above
the STEL, the employer shall establish an exposure monitoring program for
periodic monitoring of employee exposure to MC in accordance with Table 1:
Table 1
Six Initial Determination Exposure Scenarios and Their
Associated Monitoring Frequencies
|
Exposure scenario |
Required monitoring activity |
|
Below the |
No eight-hour TWA or STEL monitoring required. |
|
Below the |
No eight-hour TWA monitoring required; monitor STEL exposures every three months. |
|
At or above the |
Monitor eight-hour TWA exposures every six months. |
|
At or above the |
Monitor eight-hour TWA exposures every six months and monitor STEL exposures every three months. |
|
Above the TWA and at or below the STEL. |
Monitor eight-hour TWA exposures every three months. In addition, without regard to the last sentence of the note to subsection (3) of this section, the following employers must monitor STEL exposures every three months until either the date by which they must achieve the eight-hour TWAs PEL under subsection (3) of this section or the date by which they in fact achieve the eight-hour TWA PEL, whichever comes first: * Employers engaged in poly-urethane foam manufacturing; * Foam fabrication; * Furniture refinishing; * General aviation aircraft stripping; * Product formulation; * Use of MC-based adhesives for boat building and repair; * Recreational vehicle manufacture, van conversion, or upholstery; and use of MC in construction work for restoration and preservation of buildings, painting and paint removal, cabinet making, or floor refinishing and resurfacing. |
|
Above the TWA and above the STEL. |
Monitor both eight-hour TWA exposures and STEL exposures every three months. |
(Note to subsection (4)(c) of this section: The employer may
decrease the frequency of exposure monitoring to every six months when at least
two consecutive measurements taken at least seven days apart show exposures to
be at or below the eight-hour TWA PEL. The employer may discontinue the
periodic eight-hour TWA monitoring for employees where at least two consecutive
measurements taken at least seven days apart are below the
(d)
Additional monitoring.
(i) The employer must
perform exposure monitoring when a change in workplace conditions indicates
that employee exposure may have increased. Examples of situations that may
require additional monitoring include changes in production, process, control
equipment, or work practices, or a leak, rupture, or other breakdown.
(ii) Where exposure monitoring is performed
due to a spill, leak, rupture or equipment breakdown, the employer must clean
up the MC and perform the appropriate repairs before monitoring.
(e) Employee notification of
monitoring results.
(i) The employer must,
within fifteen working days after the receipt of the results of any monitoring
performed under this section, notify each affected employee of these results in
writing, either individually or by posting of results in an appropriate
location that is accessible to affected employees.
(ii) Whenever monitoring results indicate
that employee exposure is above the eight-hour TWA PEL or the STEL, the
employer must describe in the written notification the corrective action being
taken to reduce employee exposure to or below the eight-hour TWA PEL or STEL
and the schedule for completion of this action.
(f) Observation of monitoring.
(i) Employee observation. The employer must
provide affected employees or their designated representatives an opportunity
to observe any monitoring of employee exposure to MC conducted in accordance
with this section.
(ii)
Observation procedures. When observation of the monitoring of employee exposure
to MC requires entry into an area where the use of protective clothing or
equipment is required, the employer must provide, at no cost to the
observer(s), and the observer(s) must use such clothing and equipment and must
comply with all other applicable safety and health procedures.
(5) Regulated areas.
(a) The employer must establish a regulated
area wherever an employee's exposure to airborne concentrations of MC exceeds
or can reasonably be expected to exceed either the eight-hour TWA PEL or the
STEL.
(b) The employer must limit
access to regulated areas to authorized persons.
(c) The employer must supply a respirator,
selected in accordance with subsection (7)(c) of this section, to each person
who enters a regulated area and must require each affected employee to use that
respirator whenever MC exposures are likely to exceed the eight-hour TWA PEL or
STEL.
(Note to subsection (5)(c) of this section: An employer who
has implemented all feasible engineering, work practice and administrative
controls (as required in subsection (6) of this section), and who has
established a
(d)
The employer must ensure that, within a regulated area , employees
do not engage in nonwork activities which may increase dermal or oral MC
exposure.
(e) The employer must
ensure that while employees are wearing respirators, they do not engage in
activities (such as taking medication or chewing gum or tobacco) which
interfere with respirator seal or performance.
(f) The employer must demarcate regulated
areas from the rest of the workplace in any manner that adequately establishes
and alerts employees to the boundaries of the area and minimizes the number of
authorized employees exposed to MC within the regulated area .
(g) An employer at a multiemployer worksite
who establishes a regulated area must communicate the access restrictions and
locations of these areas to all other employers with work operations at that
worksite.
(6) Methods
of compliance.
(a) Engineering and work
practice controls. The employer must institute and maintain the effectiveness
of engineering controls and work practices to reduce employee exposure to or
below the PELs except to the extent that the employer can demonstrate that such
controls are not feasible.
(b)
Wherever the feasible engineering controls and work practices which can be
instituted are not sufficient to reduce employee exposure to or below the 8-TWA
PEL or STEL, the employer must use them to reduce employee exposure to the
lowest levels achievable by these controls and must supplement them by the use
of respiratory protection that complies with the requirements of subsection (7)
of this section.
(c) Prohibition
of rotation. The employer must not implement a schedule of employee rotation as
a means of compliance with the PELs.
(d)
Leak and spill detection.
(i)
The employer must implement procedures to detect leaks of MC in the workplace.
In work areas where spills may occur, the employer must make provisions to
contain any spills and to safely dispose of any MC-contaminated waste
materials.
(ii) The employer must
ensure that all incidental leaks are repaired and that incidental spills are
cleaned promptly by employees who use the appropriate personal protective
equipment and are trained in proper methods of cleanup.
(Note to subsection (6)(d)(ii) of this section: See Appendix
A of this section for examples of procedures that satisfy this requirement.
Employers covered by this standard may also be subject to the hazardous waste
and
(7)
Respiratory protection.
(a) General
requirements. For employees who use respirators required by this section, the
employer must provide each employee an appropriate respirator that complies
with the requirements of this subsection. Respirators must be used during:
(i) Periods when an employee's exposure to
MC exceeds or can reasonably be expected to exceed the eight-hour TWA PEL or
the STEL (for example, when an employee is using MC in a regulated
area );
(ii) Periods necessary to
install or implement feasible engineering and work-practice controls;
(iii) In a few work operations, such as some
maintenance operations and repair activities, for which the employer
demonstrates that engineering and work practice controls are
infeasible;
(iv) Work operations
for which feasible engineering and work practice controls are not sufficient to
reduce exposures to or below the PELs;
(v)
Emergencies.
(b)
Respirator program.
(i) The
employer must develop, implement and maintain a respiratory protection program
as required by chapter 296-842 WAC, Respirators, which covers each employee
required by this chapter to use a respirator, except for the requirements in
Table 5 of WAC
296-842-13005
that address gas or vapor cartridge change schedules and end-of-service-life
indicators (ESLIs).
(ii) Employers
who provide employees with gas masks with organic-vapor canisters for the
purpose of emergency escape must replace the canisters after any emergency use
and before the gas masks are returned to service.
(c) Respirator selection. The employer must:
(i) Select and provide to employees
appropriate respirators according to this section and WAC
296-842-13005,
found in the respirator rule.
(ii)
Make sure half-facepiece respirators are not selected or used for protection
against MC. This is necessary to prevent eye irritation or damage from MC
exposure.
(iii) Provide to
employees, for emergency escape, one of the following respirator options:
(A) A self-contained breathing apparatus
operated in the continuous-flow or pressure demand mode; or
(B) A gas mask equipped with an organic
vapor canister.
(d)
Medical evaluation. Before having an employee use a supplied-air
respirator in the negative-pressure mode, or a gas mask with an organic-vapor
canister for emergency escape, the employer must:
(i)
Have a physician or other licensed health care professional
(PLHCP) evaluate the employee's ability to use such respiratory
protection;
(ii) Ensure that the
PLHCP provides their findings in a written opinion to the employee and the
employer.
| Note: | See WAC 296-842-14005 for medical evaluation requirements for employees using respirators. |
(8) Protective work clothing and equipment.
(a) Where needed to prevent MC-induced skin
or eye irritation, the employer must provide clean protective clothing and
equipment which is resistant to MC, at no cost to the employee, and must ensure
that each affected employee uses it. Eye and face protection shall meet the
requirements of WAC
296-800-160, as
applicable.
(b) The employer must
clean, launder, repair and replace all protective clothing and equipment
required by this subsection as needed to maintain their
effectiveness.
(c) The employer
must be responsible for the safe disposal of such clothing and equipment.
(Note to subsection (8)(c) of this section: See Appendix A for examples of disposal procedures that will satisfy this requirement.)
(9) Hygiene
facilities.
(a) If it is reasonably
foreseeable that employees' skin may contact solutions containing 0.1 percent
or greater MC (for example, through splashes, spills or improper work
practices), the employer must provide conveniently located washing facilities
capable of removing the MC, and must ensure that affected employees use these
facilities as needed.
(b) If it is
reasonably foreseeable that an employee's eyes may contact solutions containing
0.1 percent or greater MC (for example through splashes, spills or improper
work practices), the employer must provide appropriate eyewash facilities
within the immediate work area for emergency use, and must ensure that affected
employees use those facilities when necessary.
(10) Medical surveillance.
(a) Affected employees. The employer must
make medical surveillance available for employees who are or may be exposed to
MC as follows:
(i) At or above the action
level on thirty or more days per year, or above the eight-hour TWA PEL or the
STEL on ten or more days per year;
(ii)
Above the 8-TWA PEL or STEL for any time period where an employee
has been identified by a physician or other licensed health care professional
as being at risk from cardiac disease or from some other serious MC-related
health condition and such employee requests inclusion in the medical
surveillance program;
(iii) During
an emergency .
(b)
Costs. The employer must provide all required medical surveillance at no cost
to affected employees, without loss of pay and at a reasonable time and
place.
(c) Medical personnel. The
employer must ensure that all medical surveillance procedures are performed by
a physician or other licensed health care professional, as defined in
subsection (2) of this section.
(d)
Frequency of medical surveillance. The employer must make medical
surveillance available to each affected employee as follows:
(i) Initial surveillance. The employer must
provide initial medical surveillance under the schedule provided by subsection
(14)(b)(iii) of this section, or before the time of initial assignment of the
employee, whichever is later.
(ii)
Periodic medical surveillance. The employer must update the medical and work
history for each affected employee annually. The employer must provide periodic
physical examinations, including appropriate laboratory surveillance, as
follows:
(A) For employees forty-five years
of age or older, within twelve months of the initial surveillance or any
subsequent medical surveillance; and
(B)
For employees younger than forty-five years of age, within
thirty-six months of the initial surveillance or any subsequent medical
surveillance.
(iii)
Termination of employment or reassignment. When an employee leaves the
employer's workplace, or is reassigned to an area where exposure to MC is
consistently at or below the action level and STEL, medical surveillance must
be made available if six months or more have elapsed since the last medical
surveillance.
(iv) Additional
surveillance. The employer must provide additional medical surveillance at
frequencies other than those listed above when recommended in the written
medical opinion. (For example, the physician or other licensed health care
professional may determine an examination is warranted in less than thirty-six
months for employees younger than forty-five years of age based upon evaluation
of the results of the annual medical and work history.)
(e) Content of medical surveillance.
(i) Medical and work history. The
comprehensive medical and work history must emphasize neurological symptoms,
skin conditions, history of hematologic or liver disease, signs or symptoms
suggestive of heart disease (angina, coronary artery disease), risk factors for
cardiac disease, MC exposures, and work practices and personal protective
equipment used during such exposures.
(Note to subsection (10)(e)(i) of this section: See Appendix B of this section for an example of a medical and work history format that would satisfy this requirement.)
(ii)
Physical examination. Where physical examinations are provided as
required above, the physician or other licensed health care professional must
accord particular attention to the lungs, cardiovascular system (including
blood pressure and pulse), liver, nervous system, and skin. The physician or
other licensed health care professional must determine the extent and nature of
the physical examination based on the health status of the employee and
analysis of the medical and work history.
(iii)
Laboratory surveillance. The physician or other licensed health
care professional must determine the extent of any required laboratory
surveillance based on the employee's observed health status and the medical and
work history.
(Note to subsection (10)(e)(iii) of this section: See Appendix B of this section for information regarding medical tests. Laboratory surveillance may include before-and after-shift carboxyhemoglobin determinations, resting ECG, hematocrit, liver function tests and cholesterol levels.)
(iv) Other
information or reports. The medical surveillance must also include any other
information or reports the physician or other licensed health care professional
determines are necessary to assess the employee's health in relation to MC
exposure.
(f) Content
of emergency medical surveillance. The employer must ensure that medical
surveillance made available when an employee has been exposed to MC in
emergency situations includes, at a minimum:
(i)
Appropriate emergency treatment and decontamination of the
exposed employee;
(ii)
Comprehensive physical examination with special emphasis on the nervous system,
cardiovascular system, lungs, liver and skin, including blood pressure and
pulse;
(iii) Updated medical and
work history, as appropriate for the medical condition of the employee;
and
(iv) Laboratory surveillance,
as indicated by the employee's health status.
(Note to subsection (10)(f)(iv) of this section: See Appendix B for examples of tests which may be appropriate.)
(g) Additional examinations and referrals.
Where the physician or other licensed health care professional determines it is
necessary, the scope of the medical examination must be expanded and the
appropriate additional medical surveillance, such as referrals for consultation
or examination, shall be provided.
(h)
Information provided to the physician or other licensed health
care professional. The employer must provide the following information to a
physician or other licensed health care professional who is involved in the
diagnosis of MC-induced health effects:
(i)
A copy of this section including its applicable appendices;
(ii) A description of the affected
employee's past, current and anticipated future duties as they relate to the
employee's MC exposure;
(iii) The
employee's former or current exposure levels or, for employees not yet
occupationally exposed to MC, the employee's anticipated exposure levels and
the frequency and exposure levels anticipated to be associated with
emergencies;
(iv) A description of
any personal protective equipment, such as respirators, used or to be used;
and
(v) Information from previous
employment-related medical surveillance of the affected employee which is not
otherwise available to the physician or other licensed health care
professional.
(i)
Written medical opinions.
(i) For each
physical examination required by this section, the employer must ensure that
the physician or other licensed health care professional provides to the
employer and to the affected employee a written opinion regarding the results
of that examination within fifteen days of completion of the evaluation of
medical and laboratory findings, but not more than thirty days after the
examination. The written medical opinion must be limited to the following
information:
(A) The physician's or other
licensed health care professional's opinion concerning whether exposure to MC
may contribute to or aggravate the employee's existing cardiac, hepatic,
neurological (including stroke) or dermal disease or whether the employee has
any other medical condition(s) that would place the employee's health at
increased risk of material impairment from exposure to MC;
(B) Any recommended limitations upon the
employee's exposure to MC, removal from MC exposure, or upon the employee's use
of protective clothing or equipment and respirators;
(C) A statement that the employee has been
informed by the physician or other licensed health care professional that MC is
a potential occupational carcinogen, of risk factors for heart disease, and the
potential for exacerbation of underlying heart disease by exposure to MC
through its metabolism to carbon monoxide; and
(D) A statement that the employee has been
informed by the physician or other licensed health care professional of the
results of the medical examination and any medical conditions resulting from MC
exposure which require further explanation or treatment.
(ii) The employer must instruct the
physician or other licensed health care professional not to reveal to the
employer, orally or in the written opinion, any specific records, findings, and
diagnoses that have no bearing on occupational exposure to MC.
(Note to subsection (10)(h)(ii) of this section: The written medical opinion may also include information and opinions generated to comply with other OSHA health standards.)
(j) Medical presumption. For purposes of
this subsection (10), the physician or other licensed health care professional
must presume, unless medical evidence indicates to the contrary, that a medical
condition is unlikely to require medical removal from MC exposure if the
employee is not exposed to MC above the eight-hour TWA PEL. If the physician or
other licensed health care professional recommends removal for an employee
exposed below the eight-hour TWA PEL, the physician or other licensed health
care professional must cite specific medical evidence, sufficient to rebut the
presumption that exposure below the eight-hour TWA PEL is unlikely to require
removal, to support the recommendation. If such evidence is cited by the
physician or other licensed health care professional, the employer must remove
the employee. If such evidence is not cited by the physician or other licensed
health care professional, the employer is not required to remove the
employee.
(k) Medical removal
protection (MRP).
(i) Temporary medical
removal and return of an employee.
(A) Except
as provided in (j) of this subsection, when a medical determination recommends
removal because the employee's exposure to MC may contribute to or aggravate
the employee's existing cardiac, hepatic, neurological (including stroke), or
skin disease, the employer must provide medical removal protection benefits to
the employee and either:
(I) Transfer the
employee to comparable work where methylene chloride exposure is below the
action level ; or
(II) Remove the
employee from MC exposure.
(B)
If comparable work is not available and the employer is able to
demonstrate that removal and the costs of extending MRP benefits to an
additional employee, considering feasibility in relation to the size of the
employer's business and the other requirements of this standard, make further
reliance on MRP an inappropriate remedy, the employer may retain the additional
employee in the existing job until transfer or removal becomes appropriate,
provided:
(I) The employer ensures that the
employee receives additional medical surveillance, including a physical
examination at least every sixty days until transfer or removal occurs;
and
(II) The employer or PLHCP
informs the employee of the risk to the employee's health from continued MC
exposure.
(C) The
employer must maintain in effect any job-related protective measures or
limitations, other than removal, for as long as a medical determination
recommends them to be necessary.
(ii)
End of MRP benefits and return of the employee to former job
status.
(A) The employer may cease providing
MRP benefits at the earliest of the following:
(I)
Six months;
(II)
Return of the employee to the employee's former job status following receipt of
a medical determination concluding that the employee's exposure to MC no longer
will aggravate any cardiac, hepatic, neurological (including stroke), or dermal
disease;
(III) Receipt of a
medical determination concluding that the employee can never return to MC
exposure.
(B) For the
purposes of this subsection (10), the requirement that an employer return an
employee to the employee's former job status is not intended to expand upon or
restrict any rights an employee has or would have had, absent temporary medical
removal, to a specific job classification or position under the terms of a
collective bargaining agreement.
(l) Medical removal protection benefits.
(i) For purposes of this subsection (10),
the term medical removal protection benefits means that, for each removal, an
employer must maintain for up to six months the earnings, seniority, and other
employment rights and benefits of the employee as though the employee had not
been removed from MC exposure or transferred to a comparable job.
(ii) During the period of time that an
employee is removed from exposure to MC, the employer may condition the
provision of medical removal protection benefits upon the employee's
participation in follow-up medical surveillance made available pursuant to this
section.
(iii) If a removed
employee files a workers' compensation claim for a MC-related disability, the
employer must continue the MRP benefits required by this section until either
the claim is resolved or the six-month period for payment of MRP benefits has
passed, whichever occurs first. To the extent the employee is entitled to
indemnity payments for earnings lost during the period of removal, the
employer's obligation to provide medical removal protection benefits to the
employee shall be reduced by the amount of such indemnity payments.
(iv) The employer's obligation to provide
medical removal protection benefits to a removed employee must be reduced to
the extent that the employee receives compensation for earnings lost during the
period of removal from either a publicly or an employer-funded compensation
program, or receives income from employment with another employer made possible
by virtue of the employee's removal.
(m) Voluntary removal or restriction of an
employee. Where an employer, although not required by this section to do so,
removes an employee from exposure to MC or otherwise places any limitation on
an employee due to the effects of MC exposure on the employee's medical
condition, the employer must provide medical removal protection benefits to the
employee equal to those required by (l) of this subsection.
(n) Multiple health care professional review
mechanism.
(i) If the employer selects the
initial physician or licensed health care professional (PLHCP) to conduct any
medical examination or consultation provided to an employee under (k) of this
subsection, the employer must notify the employee of the right to seek a second
medical opinion each time the employer provides the employee with a copy of the
written opinion of that PLHCP.
(ii)
If the employee does not agree with the opinion of the
employer-selected PLHCP, notifies the employer of that fact, and takes steps to
make an appointment with a second PLHCP within fifteen days of receiving a copy
of the written opinion of the initial PLHCP, the employer must pay for the
PLHCP chosen by the employee to perform at least the following:
(A) Review any findings, determinations or
recommendations of the initial PLHCP; and
(B)
Conduct such examinations, consultations, and laboratory tests as
the PLHCP deems necessary to facilitate this review.
(iii) If the findings, determinations or
recommendations of the second PLHCP differ from those of the initial PLHCP,
then the employer and the employee must instruct the two health care
professionals to resolve the disagreement.
(iv)
If the two health care professionals are unable to resolve their
disagreement within fifteen days, then those two health care professionals must
jointly designate a PLHCP who is a specialist in the field at issue. The
employer must pay for the specialist to perform at least the following:
(A) Review the findings, determinations, and
recommendations of the first two PLHCPs; and
(B)
Conduct such examinations, consultations, laboratory tests and
discussions with the prior PLHCPs as the specialist deems necessary to resolve
the disagreements of the prior health care professionals.
(v) The written opinion of the specialist
must be the definitive medical determination. The employer must act consistent
with the definitive medical determination, unless the employer and employee
agree that the written opinion of one of the other two PLHCPs shall be the
definitive medical determination.
(vi)
The employer and the employee or authorized employee
representative may agree upon the use of any expeditious alternate health care
professional determination mechanism in lieu of the multiple health care
professional review mechanism provided by this section so long as the alternate
mechanism otherwise satisfies the requirements contained in this
section.
(11)
Hazard communication - General.
(a) Chemical
manufacturers, importers, distributors, and employers must comply with all
requirements of the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), WAC
296-901-140
for MC.
(b) In classifying the
hazards of MC at least the following hazards are to be addressed: Cancer,
cardiac effects (including elevation of carboxyhemoglobin), central nervous
system effects, liver effects, and skin and eye irritation.
(c) Employers must include MC in the hazard
communication program established to comply with the HCS, WAC
296-901-140.
Employers must ensure that each employee has access to labels on containers of
MC and to safety data sheets, and is trained in accordance with the
requirements of HCS and subsection (12) of this section.
(12) Employee information and training.
(a) The employer must provide information
and training for each affected employee prior to or at the time of initial
assignment to a job involving potential exposure to MC.
(b) The employer must ensure that
information and training is presented in a manner that is understandable to the
employees.
(c) In addition to the
information required under the Hazard Communication Standard at WAC
296-901-140:
(i) The employer must inform each affected
employee of the requirements of this section and information available in its
appendices, as well as how to access or obtain a copy of it in the
workplace;
(ii) Wherever an
employee's exposure to airborne concentrations of MC exceeds or can reasonably
be expected to exceed the action level , the employer must inform each affected
employee of the quantity, location, manner of use, release, and storage of MC
and the specific operations in the workplace that could result in exposure to
MC, particularly noting where exposures may be above the eight-hour TWA PEL or
STEL;
(d) The employer
must train each affected employee as required under the Hazard Communication
Standard at WAC
296-901-140,
as appropriate.
(e) The employer
must retrain each affected employee as necessary to ensure that each employee
exposed above the action level or the STEL maintains the requisite
understanding of the principles of safe use and handling of MC in the
workplace.
(f) Whenever there are
workplace changes, such as modifications of tasks or procedures or the
institution of new tasks or procedures, which increase employee exposure , and
where those exposures exceed or can reasonably be expected to exceed the action
level , the employer must update the training as necessary to ensure that each
affected employee has the requisite proficiency.
(g) An employer whose employees are exposed
to MC at a multiemployer worksite must notify the other employers with work
operations at that site in accordance with the requirements of the Hazard
Communication Standard, WAC
296-901-140,
as appropriate.
(h) The employer
must provide to the director , upon request, all available materials relating to
employee information and training.
(13) Recordkeeping.
(a)
Objective data.
(i) Where an
employer seeks to demonstrate that initial monitoring is unnecessary through
reasonable reliance on objective data showing that any materials in the
workplace containing MC will not release MC at levels which exceed the action
level or the STEL under foreseeable conditions of exposure, the employer must
establish and maintain an accurate record of the objective data relied upon in
support of the exemption.
(ii)
This record must include at least the following information:
(A) The MC-containing material in
question;
(B) The source of the
objective data;
(C) The testing
protocol, results of testing, and/or analysis of the material for the release
of MC;
(D) A description of the
operation exempted under subsection (4)(b)(i) of this section and how the data
support the exemption; and
(E)
Other data relevant to the operations, materials, processing, or employee
exposures covered by the exemption.
(iii) The employer must maintain this record
for the duration of the employer's reliance upon such objective data.
(b) Exposure measurements.
(i) The employer must establish and keep an
accurate record of all measurements taken to monitor employee exposure to MC as
prescribed in subsection (4) of this section.
(ii) Where the employer has twenty or more
employees, this record must include at least the following information:
(A) The date of measurement for each sample
taken;
(B) The operation involving
exposure to MC which is being monitored;
(C)
Sampling and analytical methods used and evidence of their
accuracy;
(D) Number, duration,
and results of samples taken;
(E)
Type of personal protective equipment, such as respiratory protective devices,
worn, if any; and
(F) Name, Social
Security number, job classification and exposure of all of the employees
represented by monitoring, indicating which employees were actually
monitored.
(iii) Where
the employer has fewer than twenty employees, the record must include at least
the following information:
(A) The date of
measurement for each sample taken;
(B)
Number, duration, and results of samples taken; and
(C) Name, Social Security number, job
classification and exposure of all of the employees represented by monitoring,
indicating which employees were actually monitored.
(iv) The employer must maintain this record
for at least thirty (30) years, in accordance with chapter 296-802
WAC.
(c) Medical
surveillance.
(i) The employer must
establish and maintain an accurate record for each employee subject to medical
surveillance under subsection (10) of this section.
(ii) The record must include at least the
following information:
(A) The name, Social
Security number and description of the duties of the employee;
(B) Written medical opinions; and
(C) Any employee medical conditions related
to exposure to MC.
(iii)
The employer must ensure that this record is maintained for the
duration of employment plus thirty years, in accordance with chapter 296-802
WAC.
(d) Availability.
(i) The employer, upon written request, must
make all records required to be maintained by this section available to the
director for examination and copying in accordance with chapter 296-802 WAC.
(Note to subsection (13)(d)(i) of this section: All records required to be maintained by this section may be kept in the most administratively convenient form (for example, electronic or computer records would satisfy this requirement).)
(ii)
The employer, upon request, must make any employee exposure and
objective data records required by this section available for examination and
copying by affected employees, former employees, and designated representatives
in accordance with chapter 296-802 WAC.
(iii)
The employer, upon request, must make employee medical records
required to be kept by this section available for examination and copying by
the subject employee and by anyone having the specific written consent of the
subject employee in accordance with chapter 296-802 WAC.
(e) Transfer of records. The employer must
comply with the requirements concerning transfer of records set forth in WAC
296-802-600
Transfer and disposal of employee records.
(14) Dates.
(a)
Engineering controls required under subsection (6)(a) of this
section must be implemented according to the following schedule:
(i) For employers with fewer than twenty
employees, no later than April 10, 2000.
(ii)
For employers with fewer than one hundred fifty employees engaged
in foam fabrication; for employers with fewer than fifty employees engaged in
furniture refinishing, general aviation aircraft stripping, and product
formulation; for employers with fewer than fifty employees using MC-based
adhesives for boat building and repair, recreational vehicle manufacture, van
conversion, and upholstering; for employers with fewer than fifty employees
using MC in construction work for restoration and preservation of buildings,
painting and paint removal, cabinet making and/or floor refinishing and
resurfacing, no later than April 10, 2000.
(iii)
For employers engaged in polyurethane foam manufacturing with
twenty or more employees, no later than October 10, 1999.
(b) Use of respiratory protection whenever
an employee's exposure to MC exceeds or can reasonably be expected to exceed
the eight-hour TWA PEL, in accordance with subsections (3)(a), (5)(c), (6)(a)
and (7)(a) of this section, must be implemented according to the following
schedule:
(i) For employers with fewer than
one hundred fifty employees engaged in foam fabrication; for employers with
fewer than fifty employees engaged in furniture refinishing, general aviation
aircraft stripping, and product formulation; for employers with fewer than
fifty employees using MC-based adhesives for boat building and repair,
recreational vehicle manufacture, van conversion, and upholstering; for
employers with fewer than fifty employees using MC in construction work for
restoration and preservation of buildings, painting and paint removal, cabinet
making and/or floor refinishing and resurfacing, no later than April 10,
2000.
(ii) For employers engaged
in polyurethane foam manufacturing with twenty or more employees, no later than
October 10, 1999.
(c)
Notification of corrective action under subsection (4)(e)(ii) of this section,
no later than ninety days before the compliance date applicable to such
corrective action.
(d)
Transitional dates. The exposure limits for MC specified in WAC
296-307-62610
Table 1, must remain in effect until the start up dates for the exposure limits
specified in subsection (14) of this section, or if the exposure limits in this
section are stayed or vacated.
(e)
Unless otherwise specified in this subsection, all other requirements of this
section must be complied with immediately.
(15) Appendices. The information contained
in the appendices does not, by itself, create any additional obligations not
otherwise imposed or detract from any existing obligation.
Notes
Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.060. 09-15-145, § 296-62-07470, filed 7/21/09, effective 9/1/09; 07-05-072, § 296-62-07470, filed 2/20/07, effective 4/1/07; 04-10-026, § 296-62-07470, filed 4/27/04, effective 8/1/04. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010,[49.17].040 , and [49.17].050. 01-11-038, § 296-62-07470, filed 5/9/01, effective 9/1/01; 99-10-071, § 296-62-07470, filed 5/4/99, effective 9/1/99. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.040, [49.17].050 and [49.17].060. 97-18-062, § 296-62-07470, filed 9/2/97, effective 12/1/97.
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