Electrical safety - Washington

Washington’s state requirements regarding electrical safety include a substantial amount of regulatory information beyond the federal requirements. Click the link(s) below to view the applicable requirements.

Electrical safety

Citations

Washington:

WAC 296-24-957 ElectricalWAC 296-24-960 to WAC 296-24-990 Rules about safety-related work practicesWAC 296-800-280 Basic electrical rules

Federal: 29 CFR 1910.301, .302, .303, .304, .305, .306, .307, .308, .331, .332, .333, .334, .335, .399, and Appendix A to Subpart S

A summary of the additional requirements includes the following:

• Washington state does not use metric measurements (i.e., 1.98 meters), but Imperial measurements (i.e., 6 feet 6 inches).
• In WAC 296-24-95703, Table S-1 requires a 3.01 foot minimum clearance distance for equipment 151 to 600 nominal voltage to ground. (Federal OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.303 only calls for a 3 foot distance for that voltage range.)
• In WAC 296-24-95703(7)(b)(ii), Washington uses the word “would” instead of the words “likely to” in the following requirement: “In locations where electric equipment would be exposed to physical damage, enclosures or guards shall be so arranged and of such strength as to prevent such damage.”
• In WAC 296-24-95703(8)(b), Washington state does not require specific provisions to prevent access for fencing that is less than 8 feet (as federal OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.303(h)(2)(ii) does), but Washington state does require “other features that provide a degree of isolation relevant to an 8 foot fence” for fencing, walls, or screens less than 8 feet in height.
• In WAC 296-24-95705(7)(f)(vii)(B), the grounded equipment exception is only allowed if the equipment is distinctively marked “to indicate that the tool or appliance utilizes an approved system of double insulation,” among other requirements. Federal OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.304(g)(6)(vii)(B) requires equipment to be distinctively marked but does not specify the marking.
• Unlike federal OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.305(a)(2)(i)(A), Washington state’s WAC 296-24-95707(1)(b)(i)(A) adds “demolition” to the list of activities that allow temporary electrical power and lighting installations of 600 volts, nominal, or less.
• UnIike federal OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.305(g)(2)(ii), Washington state’s WAC 296-24-95707(7)(b)(ii) allows for “hard-service cord and junior hard-service cord No. 12 and larger” to be repaired as specified. Federal OSHA requires “No. 14 and larger.”
• WAC 296-24-95709(12) provides requirements for exposures to movie theater Xenon bulbs. Federal OSHA has no comparable provisions.
• Unlike federal OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.308(e)(2)(iv), WAC 296-24-95713(5)(b)(iv) uses the term “approved” instead of the term “identified” in the following requirement: “Indoor communications wires and cables shall be separated at least 2 inches from conductors of any electric light, power, Class 1, nonpower-limited fire alarm, or medium power network-powered broadband communications circuits, unless a special and equally protective method of conductor separation, approved for the purpose, is employed.”
• According to WAC 296-24-960(6)(b), when an unqualified person is working near overhead lines with voltages to ground of over 50kV, the person and the longest conductive object he or she may contact cannot come closer to any unguarded, energized overhead line than 10 ft. plus 0.4 inch for every 1 kV over 50 kV.
• According to WAC 296-24-960(8)(a), any vehicle or mechanical equipment capable of having parts of its structure elevated near energized overhead lines having a voltage of higher than 50kV must maintain a clearance to those lines of 10 ft. plus 0.4 inch for every 1kV over 50kV.
• According to WAC 296-24-960(3)(a)(i), no work may be performed, no material may be piled, stored, or otherwise handled, no scaffolding, commercial signs, or structures may be erected or dismantled, nor any tools, machinery, or equipment operated within the specified minimum distances from any energized high voltage electrical conductor capable of energizing the material or equipment, unless the electrical distribution and transmission lines have been deenergized and visibly grounded at point of work, or insulating barriers not a part of or an attachment to the equipment have been erected to prevent physical contact with the lines. For lines rated over 50 kV, clearance must be 10 feet plus 0.4 inch for each 1 kV over 50 kV, or twice the length of the line insulator but never less than 10 feet.
• According to WAC 296-24-960(3)(b), where overhead electric conductors are encountered in proximity to a work area, the employer must ascertain the voltage and minimum clearance distance required, and maintain that minimum clearance distance, among other things.
• According to WAC 296-24-960(4), when work is being carried out in proximity to energized electrical service conductors operating at 750 volts or less, such work must be performed in a manner to prevent contact by any worker with the energized conductors.
• The requirements of WAC 296-24-980, Safeguards for Personnel Protection, are additional to federal requirements. This regulation also makes reference to the personal protective requirements of 296-24 WAC Part L, Electrical, and WAC 296-800-160, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• WAC 296-800-280, Electrical, goes beyond the federal requirements.