Washington Administrative Code › Title 296 - Labor and Industries, Department of › Chapter 296-24 - General safety and health standards › Part L - ELECTRICAL › Section 296-24-985 - Use of equipment

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
Portable
				electric equipment.
This section applies to the use of cord-and
				plug-connected equipment, including flexible cord sets (extension cords).
(a)
Handling.
You must handle
				portable equipment in a manner which will not cause damage. You must not use
				flexible electric cords connected to equipment for raising or lowering the
				equipment. You must not fasten flexible cords with staples or otherwise hung in
				such a fashion as could damage the outer jacket or insulation.
(b)
Visual inspection.
(i) You must visually inspect portable cord-
				and plug-connected equipment and flexible cord sets (extension cords) before
				use on any shift for external defects (such as loose parts, deformed and
				missing pins, or damage to outer jacket or insulation) and for evidence of
				possible internal damage (such as pinched or crushed outer jacket). Cord- and
				plug-connected equipment and flexible cord sets (extension cords) which remain
				connected once they are put in place and are not exposed to damage need not be
				visually inspected until they are relocated.
(ii) If there is a defect or evidence of
				damage that might expose an employee to injury, you must remove the defective
				or damaged item from service, and employees must not use it until repairs and
				tests necessary to render the equipment safe have been made.
(iii) When an attachment plug is to be
				connected to a receptacle (including any on a cord set), you must first check
				the relationship of the plug and receptacle contacts to ensure they are of
				proper mating configurations.
(c)
Grounding-type equipment.
(i) A flexible cord used with grounding-type
				equipment must contain an equipment grounding conductor.
(ii) You must not connect or alter attachment
				plugs and receptacles in a manner which would prevent proper continuity of the
				equipment grounding conductor at the point where plugs are attached to
				receptacles. Additionally, you must not alter these devices to allow the
				grounding pole of a plug to be inserted into slots intended for connection to
				the current-carrying conductors.
(iii) You must not use adapters which
				interrupt the continuity of the equipment grounding connection.
(d)
Conductive work
				locations.
Portable electric equipment and flexible cords used in highly
				conductive work locations (such as those inundated with water or other
				conductive liquids), or in job locations where employees are likely to contact
				water or conductive liquids, must be approved for those locations.
(e)
Connecting attachment plugs.
(i) Employees' hands must not be wet when
				plugging and unplugging flexible cords and cord- and plug-connected equipment,
				if energized equipment is involved.
(ii) You must only handle energized plug and
				receptacle connections with insulating protective equipment if the condition of
				the connection could provide a conducting path to the employee's hand (if, for
				example, a cord connector is wet from being immersed in water).
(iii) You must properly secure locking-type
				connectors after connection.