AN ACT Relating to employer hazard communication programs; amending RCW 49.70.020 and 49.70.115; and adding new sections to chapter 49.70 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 409, Laws of 1985 and RCW 49.70.020 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Agricultural employee" means a person employed on a farm who plants, cultivates, harvests, or handles an agricultural or horticultural commodity in its unmanufactured state and includes an agricultural employee who handles a hazardous chemical or whose job performance routinely involves potential exposure to hazardous chemicals.

(2) "Department" means the department of labor and industries.

((~~(2)~~)) (3) "Employee" means an employee of an employer who is employed in the business of his or her employer whether by way of manual labor or otherwise and every person in this state who is engaged in the employment of or who is working under an independent contract the essence of which is personal labor for an employer under this chapter whether by way of manual labor or otherwise. However, for the purposes of this chapter, employee shall not mean immediate family members of the officers of any corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship or other business entity or officers of any closely held corporation engaged in agricultural production of crops or livestock.

((~~(3)~~)) (4) "Employer" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, business trust, legal representative, or other business entity that engages in any business, industry, profession, or activity in this state and employs one or more employees or who contract with one or more persons, the essence of which is the personal labor of such person or persons and includes the state, counties, cities, and all municipal corporations, public corporations, political subdivisions of the state, and charitable organizations.

(5) "Expose" or "exposure" means that an employee is subjected to a hazardous chemical in the course of employment through any route of entry, including inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, or absorption, and includes potential, possible, or accidental exposure.

(6) "Label" means any written, printed, or graphic material displayed on or affixed to containers of hazardous chemicals.

(7) "Material safety data sheet" means a document containing chemical hazard and safe handling information that is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the occupational safety and health administration standard for that document or, in the case of a chemical labeled under the federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide act (7 U.S.C. Sec. 136 et seq.) for which a material safety data sheet is both unavailable and not required under the federal occupational safety and health administration's hazard communication standard, a product label or other equivalent document with precautionary statements, such as hazards to humans and domestic animals, and environmental, physical, or chemical hazards, including warning statements.

(8) "Pesticide" means "pesticide" as defined in RCW 70.104.020.

(9) "Reentry interval" means the period of time between the application of a pesticide and the time when employees may be permitted to enter the field to engage in any activity that will result in substantial and prolonged contact of skin, eyes, or wearing apparel with treated plants.

(10) "Work area" means a room, defined space, or field where hazardous chemicals are stored or used and employees may be present.

Sec. 2. Section 3, chapter 409, Laws of 1985 and RCW 49.70.115 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) ((An employer shall provide employees engaged in agricultural production of crops or livestock or agricultural services with information and training on hazardous chemicals in their workplace at the time of their initial assignment, and whenever a new hazard is introduced into their work area, such instruction shall be tailored to the types of hazards to which the employees will be exposed. Seasonal and temporary employees who are not exposed to hazardous chemicals in their work area need not be trained.

~~(2)~~)) Employers shall maintain any material safety data sheets that are received with incoming shipments of hazardous chemicals, and ensure that they are accessible to ((~~agricultural~~)) employees upon request.

((~~(3)~~)) (2) Employers shall ensure that labels on incoming containers of hazardous chemicals are not removed or defaced.

(3) Employees may not be required to work with hazardous chemicals from an unlabeled container except for a portable container intended for the immediate use of the employee who performs the transfer.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) An employer with one or more agricultural employees shall compile and maintain a workplace pesticide list by crop for each pesticide that is used on a crop or stored in a work area. The workplace pesticide list shall be kept on a form prescribed by the department and shall contain at least the following information:

(a) The product name used on the material safety data sheet and container label and the environmental protection agency registration number, if applicable;

(b) The date and crop on which the pesticide was applied or used;

(d) The amount of pesticide applied per acre;

(e) The concentration of pesticide that was applied; and

(f) The number of acres treated with pesticide.

(2) The employer shall update the workplace pesticide list as necessary, but not less frequently than annually.

(3) The workplace pesticide list may be prepared for the workplace as a whole or for each work area and must be readily available to agricultural employees and their designated representatives. New or newly assigned agricultural employees shall be made aware of the pesticide chemical list before working with pesticides or in a work area containing pesticides.

(4) The department shall prescribe forms for the workplace pesticide lists required by this section with places to indicate, at a minimum, the crop, the product name of the pesticide that is applied to the crop or that is stored, the location and date of its application, use, or storage, as appropriate, the concentration and amount of pesticide used on a crop, and the number of acres treated.

(5) An employer subject to this section shall maintain one form for each crop, work area, or workplace as a whole, as appropriate, and shall add information to the form as different pesticides are applied, used, or stored. The forms shall be accessible and available for copying and shall be stored in a location suitable to preserve their physical integrity.

(6) The employer shall file the forms required under this section annually with the department. The filing shall include an estimation of the total amount of each pesticide listed on the forms. The department shall categorize and cross-reference the data on the forms in a manner to preserve the data for future medical use. Once an employer has filed the forms with the department, the employer is not required to preserve the forms. The department shall preserve the forms for no less than thirty years.

(7) After the effective date of this act, if the department determines after a hearing held in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW that an employer has repeatedly failed to maintain the forms as required, the employer shall be subject to any applicable penalties authorized under this chapter.

(8) If agricultural activities for which forms are maintained cease at a workplace, the forms shall be filed with the department. If an employer subject to this section is succeeded or replaced in that function by another person, the person who succeeds or replaces the employer shall retain the forms as required by this section but is not liable for violations committed by the former employer under this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter, including violations relating to the retention and preservation of forms.

(9) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the employer shall show the forms, on request, to an employee, designated representative, treating medical personnel, or a member of the community. The designated representative or treating medical personnel are not required to identify the employee represented or treated. If the employer has filed the forms with the department, the employer shall inform the requestor of that fact.

(10) If a designated representative, treating medical personnel, or member of the community desires a copy of a form and the employer refuses to provide a copy, that person shall notify the department of the request and the employer's refusal. Within two working days, the department shall request that the employer provide the department with all pertinent copies. The employer shall provide copies of the form to the department within twenty-four hours after the department's request if a designated representative or treating medical personnel desires the copies, and within fourteen days after the department's request if a member of the community desires the copies.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) If a pesticide having a reentry interval of twenty-four hours or greater, as determined by the department pursuant to section 5 of this act, is applied to a work area, the pesticide-treated area shall be posted with warning signs in accordance with the requirements of this section.

(2) When pesticide warning signs are required under this section, the employer shall post signs visible from all usual points of entry to the pesticide-treated area. If there are no usual points of entry or the area is adjacent to an unfenced public right of way, signs shall be posted (a) at each corner of the pesticide-treated area, and (b) at intervals not exceeding six hundred feet, or (c) at other locations approved by the department that provide maximum visibility.

(3) The signs shall be posted no sooner than twenty-four hours before the scheduled application of the pesticide, remain posted during application and throughout the applicable reentry interval, and be removed within two days after the expiration of the applicable reentry interval and before employee reentry is permitted.

(4) Signs shall be legible for the duration of use. Signs shall meet the minimum specifications of rules adopted by the department, which rules shall include:

(a) Size and lettering requirements;

(b) Language requirements; and

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, employees shall not be permitted to enter any work area treated with a pesticide until the expiration of the longest applicable reentry interval under state or federal law.

(2) State reentry intervals shall be established by rule by the department. In establishing the reentry intervals, the department shall consider the best scientific information available regarding pesticide toxicity and potential exposure hazard. At a minimum, no reentry interval shall be less than the period required for the pesticide spray to dry or the pesticide dust to settle.

(3) In an emergency, the department may permit reentry prior to the expiration of the applicable reentry interval if appropriate protective clothing is worn. Production or harvesting operations do not constitute an emergency.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. An employer shall provide agricultural employees with any protective clothing or device that is recommended by the material safety data sheet or department rule and that is in addition to the standard long-sleeved shirt, long pants, boots or shoes, and socks normally provided by the agricultural employee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Any waiver by an employee of the benefits or requirements of this chapter is against public policy and is void. Any employer's request or requirement that an employee waive any rights under this chapter as a condition of employment is a violation of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 3 through 7 of this act are each added to chapter 49.70 RCW.