Washington Administrative Code › Title 296 - Labor and Industries, Department of › Chapter 296-45 - Electric power generation, transmission, and distribution › Section 296-45-035 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
These definitions apply to chapter 296-45 WAC.
Aerial manlift equipment.
Equipment such as
				extended towers, boom-mounted cages or baskets, and truck-mounted ladders, that
				is primarily designed to place personnel and equipment aloft to work on
				elevated structures and equipment.
Affected employee.
An employee whose job requires
				him or her to operate or use a machine or equipment on which servicing or
				maintenance is being performed under lockout or tagout, or whose job requires
				him or her to work in an area in which such servicing or maintenance is being
				performed.
Apprentice.
An employee who is being trained to be
				journey level.
Approved.
Meets or exceeds the recognized
				standards of safety within the industry.
Approved protectors.
Gloves worn over rubber
				insulating gloves which are of such material or substance and so constructed as
				to protect the rubber gloves from abrasions, lacerations, or other physical
				damage which might otherwise occur to rubber gloves. Approved protectors must
				conform to the standards which are recognized by the industry.
Attendant.
An employee assigned to remain
				immediately outside the entrance to an enclosed or other space to render
				assistance as needed to employees inside the space.
Authorized employee.
An employee who locks out or
				tags out machines or equipment in order to perform servicing or maintenance on
				that machine or equipment. An affected employee becomes an authorized employee
				when that employee's duties include performing servicing or maintenance covered
				under this section.
Automatic reclosing device.
A self-controlled
				device for interrupting and reclosing an alternating current circuit with a
				predetermined sequence of opening and reclosing followed by resetting,
				hold-closed, or lockout operation.
Barricade.
A physical obstruction such as tapes,
				cones, or A-frame type wood or metal structures intended to provide a warning
				about and to limit access to a hazardous area.
Barrier.
A physical obstruction which is intended
				to prevent contact with energized lines or equipment or to prevent unauthorized
				access to a work area.
Bond.
The electrical interconnection of conductive
				parts designed to maintain a common electrical potential.
Bus.
A conductor or a group of conductors that
				serve as a common connection for two or more circuits.
Bushing.
An insulating structure, including a
				through conductor or providing a passageway for such a conductor, with
				provision for mounting on a barrier, conducting or otherwise, for the purposes
				of insulating the conductor from the barrier and conducting current from one
				side of the barrier to the other.
Cable.
A conductor with insulation, or a stranded
				conductor with or without insulation and other coverings (single-conductor
				cable), or a combination of conductors insulated from one another
				(multiple-conductor cable).
Cable sheath.
A conductive protective covering
				applied to cables.
Note:
A cable sheath may consist of multiple layers of which one
						or more is conductive.
Circuit.
A conductor or system of conductors
				through which an electric current is intended to flow.
Clearance (between objects).
The clear distance
				between two objects measured surface to surface.
Clearance (for work).
Authorization to perform
				specified work or permission to enter a restricted area.
Communication lines.
(See "Lines,
				communication.").
Conductor.
A material, usually in the form of a
				wire, cable, or bus bar, used for carrying an electric current.
Contract employer.
An employer, other than a host
				employer, that performs work covered by this chapter under contract.
Covered conductor.
A conductor covered with a
				dielectric having no rated insulating strength or having a rated insulating
				strength less than the voltage of the circuit in which the conductor is
				used.
Current-carrying part.
A conducting part intended
				to be connected in an electric circuit to a source of voltage.
				Noncurrent-carrying parts are those not intended to be so connected.
Deenergized.
Free from any electrical connection
				to a source of potential difference and from electric charge; not having a
				potential difference from that of the earth.
Note:
The term is used only with reference to current-carrying
						parts, which are sometimes energized (alive).
Designated employee.
A person who is designated by
				the employer to perform specific duties under the terms of this chapter and who
				is knowledgeable in the construction and operation of the equipment and the
				hazards involved.
Note:
Considering an employee to be a designated employee will
						depend on various circumstances in the workplace, on the level of training they
						have received, and the proficiency demonstrated by the employee with the tasks
						required of the job.
Electric line truck.
Any vehicle used to transport
				employees, tools, and material, which serves as a traveling workshop for
				electric power line construction and maintenance work. It may be equipped with
				a boom and auxiliary equipment for setting poles, digging holes, and elevating
				material and/or workers.
Electric supply equipment.
Equipment that
				produces, modifies, regulates, controls, or safeguards a supply of electric
				energy.
Electric supply lines.
(See "Lines, electric
				supply.").
Emergency.
An unforeseen occurrence endangering
				life, limb, or property.
Enclosed.
Surrounded by a case, cage, fence or
				otherwise which will protect the contained equipment and prevent accidental
				contact of a person with live parts.
Enclosed space.
A working space, such as a
				manhole, vault, tunnel, or shaft, that has a limited means of egress or entry,
				that is designed for periodic employee entry under normal operating conditions,
				and that under normal conditions does not contain a hazardous atmosphere, but
				that may contain a hazardous atmosphere under abnormal conditions.
Note:
Spaces that are enclosed but not designed for employee
						entry under normal operating conditions are not considered to be enclosed
						spaces for the purposes of this section. Similarly, spaces that are enclosed
						and that are expected to contain a hazardous atmosphere are not considered to
						be enclosed spaces for the purposes of this section. Such spaces meet the
						definition of permit spaces in chapter 296-809 WAC, Confined spaces, and entry
						into them must be performed in accordance with that standard.
Energized (alive, live).
Electrically connected to
				a source of potential difference, or electrically charged so as to have a
				potential significantly different from that of earth in the vicinity.
Energy isolating device.
A physical device that
				prevents the transmission or release of energy, including, but not limited to,
				the following: A manually operated electric circuit breaker, a disconnect
				switch, a manually operated switch, a slide gate, a slip blind, a line valve,
				blocks, and any similar device with a visible indication of the position of the
				device. (Push buttons, selector switches, and other control-circuit-type
				devices are not energy isolating devices.)
Energy source.
Any electrical, mechanical,
				hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, nuclear, thermal, or other energy source that
				could cause injury to personnel.
Entry
(as used in WAC
				296-45-205 of
				this chapter). The action by which a person passes through an opening into an
				enclosed space. Entry includes ensuing work activities in that space and is
				considered to have occurred as soon as any part of the entrant's body breaks
				the plane of an opening into the space.
Equipment (electric).
A general term including
				material, fittings, devices, appliances, fixtures, apparatus, and the like used
				as part of or in connection with an electrical installation.
Exposed.
Not isolated or guarded.
Fall restraint system.
A fall protection system
				that prevents the user from falling any distance.
Fault current.
The current that flows in an
				electrical system because of a defect in the circuit induced accidentally or
				otherwise.
First-aid training.
Training in the initial care,
				including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (which includes chest compressions,
				rescue breathing, and, as appropriate, other heart and lung resuscitation
				techniques), performed by a person who is not a medical practitioner, of a sick
				or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be administered.
Fixed ladder.
A ladder that is permanently secured
				to a structure.
Ground.
A conducting connection, whether
				intentional or accidental, between an electric circuit or equipment and the
				earth, or to some conducting body that serves in place of the earth.
Grounded.
Connected to earth or to some conducting
				body that serves in place of the earth.
Grounded system.
A system of conductors in which
				at least one conductor or point (usually the middle wire, or neutral point of
				transformer or generator windings) is intentionally grounded either solidly or
				through a current-limiting device (not a current-interrupting device).
Groundperson.
A member of crew working on ground
				under direction of a leadworker.
Guarded.
Covered, fenced, enclosed, or otherwise
				protected, by means of suitable covers or casings, barrier rails or screens,
				mats, or platforms, designed to prevent the possibility, under normal
				conditions, of dangerous approach or accidental contact by persons or
				objects.
Note:
Wires which are insulated, but not otherwise protected,
						are not considered as guarded.
Hazardous atmosphere.
An atmosphere that may
				expose employees to the risk of death, incapacitation, impairment of ability to
				self-rescue (that is, escape unaided from an enclosed space), injury, or acute
				illness from one or more of the following causes:
(a) Flammable gas, vapor, or mist in excess
			 of 10 percent of its lower flammable limit (LFL);
(b) Airborne combustible dust at a
			 concentration that meets or exceeds its LFL;
Note:
This concentration may be approximated as a condition in
						which the dust obscures vision at a distance of 5 feet (1.52 m) or less;
(c)
			 Atmospheric oxygen concentration below 19.5 percent or above 23.5
			 percent;
(d) Atmospheric
			 concentration of any substance for which a dose or a permissible exposure limit
			 is published in chapter 296-62 WAC, Part L, or in chapter 296-62 WAC, toxic and
			 hazardous substances, and which could result in employee exposure in excess of
			 its dose or permissible exposure limit;
Note:
An atmospheric concentration of any substance that is not
						capable of causing death, incapacitation, impairment of ability to self-rescue,
						injury, or acute illness due to its health effects is not covered by this
						provision.
(e)
			 Any other atmospheric condition that is "immediately dangerous to life or
			 health" (IDLH).
High-power tests.
Tests in which fault currents,
				load currents, magnetizing currents, and line-dropping currents are used to
				test equipment, either at the equipment's rated voltage or at lower
				voltages.
High-voltage tests.
Tests in which voltages of
				approximately 1000 volts are used as a practical minimum and in which the
				voltage source has sufficient energy to cause injury.
High wind.
A wind of such velocity that the
				following hazards would be present:
(a) An employee would be exposed to being
			 blown from elevated locations; or
(b) An employee or material handling
			 equipment could lose control of material being handled; or
(c) An employee would be exposed to other
			 hazards not controlled by the standard involved.
Note:
Winds exceeding 40 miles per hour (64.4 kilometers per
						hour), or 30 miles per hour (48.3 kilometers per hour) if material handling is
						involved, are normally considered as meeting this criteria unless precautions
						are taken to protect employees from the hazardous effects of the wind.
Host employer.
An employer that operates, or that
				controls the operating procedures for, an electric power generation,
				transmission, or distribution installation on which a contract employer is
				performing work covered by this chapter.
Note:
The division of occupational safety and health (DOSH) will
						treat the electric utility or the owner of the installation as the host
						employer if it operates or controls operating procedures for the installation.
						If the electric utility or installation owner neither operates nor controls
						operating procedures for the installation, DOSH will treat the employer that
						the utility or owner has contracted with to operate or control the operating
						procedures for the installation as the host employer. In no case will there be
						more than one host employer.
IDLH.
Any condition that poses an immediate or
				delayed threat to life or that would cause irreversible adverse health effects
				or that would interfere with an individual's ability to escape unaided from a
				permit space.
Note:
Some materials (hydrogen fluoride gas and cadmium vapor,
						for example) may produce immediate transient effects that, even if severe, may
						pass without medical attention, but are followed by sudden, possibly fatal
						collapse twelve to seventy-two hours after exposure. The victim "feels normal"
						from recovery from transient effects until collapse. Such materials in
						hazardous quantities are considered to be "immediately" dangerous to life or
						health.
Note:
For air contaminants for which WISHA has not determined a
						dose or permissible exposure limit, other sources of information, such as
						safety data sheets that comply with the hazard communication program, WAC
						296-901-140,
						published information, and internal documents can provide guidance in
						establishing acceptable atmospheric conditions.
Insulated.
Separated from other conducting
				surfaces by a dielectric (including air space) offering a high resistance to
				the passage of current.
Note:
When any object is said to be insulated, it is understood
						to be insulated for the conditions to which it is normally subjected.
						Otherwise, it is, within the purpose of this section, uninsulated.
Insulation (cable).
That which is relied upon to
				insulate the conductor from other conductors or conducting parts or from
				ground.
Insulation shielding.
An envelope which encloses
				the insulation of a cable and provides an equipoten-tial surface in contact
				with cable insulation.
Isolated.
An object that is not readily accessible
				to persons unless special means of access are used.
Leadworker.
The person directly in charge of
				workers doing the work, regardless of title.
Line-clearance tree trimmer.
An employee who,
				through related training or on-the-job experience or both, is familiar with the
				special techniques and hazards involved in line-clearance tree trimming.
Note 1:
An employee who is regularly assigned to a line-clearance
						tree-trimming crew and who is undergoing on-the-job training and who, in the
						course of such training, has demonstrated an ability to perform duties safely
						at his or her level of training and who is under the direct supervision of a
						line-clearance tree trimmer is considered to be a line-clearance tree trimmer.
Note 2:
A line-clearance tree trimmer is not considered to be a
						"qualified electrical employee" under this section unless they have the
						training required for a qualified electrical employee under WAC
						296-45-065. However,
						under the electrical safety-related work practices standard, a line-clearance
						tree trimmer is considered to be a "qualified employee." Tree trimming
						performed by such "qualified employees" is not subject to the electrical
						safety-related work practice requirements contained in WAC
						296-24-970. (See also
						the note following WAC
						296-24-970 for
						information regarding the training an employee must have to be considered a
						qualified employee.)