Washington Administrative Code › Title 296 - Labor and Industries, Department of › Chapter 296-17A - Classifications for Washington workers' compensation insurance › Section 296-17A-3513 - Classification 3513

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
3513-00 Rubber goods, N.O.C.: Manufacturing
Applies to establishments engaged in manufacturing rubber goods
				not covered by another classification (N.O.C.) from natural or synthetic rubber
				which may be hard, soft, or liquid. Products manufactured in this
				classification include a wide variety of items such as, but not limited to,
				gaskets, seals, floor tiles, O-rings, hoses, belts, rubber bands, foam rubber
				cushions or pads, sponge rubber novelties, shoe parts, floor mats, interior
				pieces for computer circuit boards, and latex rubber goods such as gloves.
				Establishments in this classification also mix and compound rubber for sale to
				tire dealers that recap or retread tires. This classification includes
				establishments that manufacture rubber tires, or that shred used tires or other
				rubber products. Used rubber is run through granulators or rotary shearers that
				shred it to small pieces. Shredded material can be used as filler for asphalt
				for running tracks, or mixed with coal for fuel in industrial plants or further
				processed into oil. This classification also includes establishments that use
				heavy machinery to cut used tires into large pieces which are then formed into
				bumpers for boats, loading docks or similar items. Manufacturing processes
				include washing, mixing, rolling, extruding, calendaring, molding, and curing,
				all of which cause chemical reactions to the rubber until it reaches the
				desired "property or state". Vulcanization, which improves the strength,
				resiliency and odor of rubber by combining it with sulfur or other additives in
				the presence of heat and pressure, occurs in various stages of manufacturing
				processes. Machinery includes but is not limited to:
Shearer
:
				Cuts bulk rubber into strips or chunks.
Extruder
: Mixes and
				heats pieces of rubber to high temperature, then forces the mixture out through
				dies, forming it into "ropes." (O-rings are made with extruded ropes.)
Rubber mill
: Has two heavy rollers (each about 1 foot
				diameter) that spin towards each other; the friction of the spinning rollers
				causes heat. Strips of raw rubber and dry chemicals are fed into the rollers
				where they are mashed and pressed, forming it into different grades or
				densities. The rubber emerges from the mill in flat, pliable strips, ready for
				further treatments.
Calendar
: Passes rubber through more
				rollers which work it to a smooth, even, glossy finish.
Hydraulic steam
				press
: There are several types of molding which involve placing strips
				of the rubber after it has been milled and rolled into cast iron molds. The
				molds are inserted into a press where heat and pressure are applied until the
				rubber is molded to desired shape, then removed and cooled.
Injection
				mold press
: Rubber is shot into the cavity of the molds, and the press
				heats it to an almost liquid form, then it becomes stable. A vacuum pump sucks
				air from the molds to form the product.
Deflasher machine
:
				Resembles a clothes dryer with a basket inside; used to remove flashing (the
				excess rubber that has squeezed out of the mold during forming). Molded items
				are placed in the basket; nylon pellets are added to the machine. As the
				machine spins, the pellets beat the flashing from the molded pieces. Flashing
				is sometimes trimmed by hand with exacto knives or smoothed on grinders.
Curing oven
: The final step for most processes which dries and
				sets the rubber. Establishments subject to this classification may also make
				some products by cutting and gluing premanufactured materials. If any rubber
				molding is performed, the entire operation is to be covered under this
				classification.
This classification excludes establishments engaged in the
				manufacture of rubber goods by cutting and gluing premanufactured rubber or
				composite sheets (
no molding
) which are to be reported
				separately in classification 3802; tire dump operations which are to be
				reported separately in classification 4305; and the manufacture of synthetic
				rubber and the "advanced recycling" of shredded tires or rubber which is to be
				reported separately in classification 3407.
07-01-014, recodified as § 296-17A-3513, filed 12/8/06,
				  effective 12/8/06. Statutory Authority:
				  RCW
				   51.16.035. 98-18-042, § 296-17-59205,
				  filed 8/28/98, effective 10/1/98; 96-12-039, § 296-17-59205, filed
				  5/31/96, effective 7/1/96.