(1) Requirement. The agricultural employer must provide decontamination supplies for routine washing and emergency decontamination in accordance with this section for any worker on an agricultural establishment who is performing an activity in an area where a pesticide was applied and who contacts anything that has been treated with the pesticide including, but not limited to, soil, water, and plants.
(2) Materials and quantities. The decontamination supplies required in subsection (1) of this section must provide adequate water at a minimum to include at least one gallon of water per worker at the beginning of each worker's work period for routine washing and emergency decontamination, soap, and single-use towels. The supplies must meet all of the following requirements:
(a) Water. At all times when this part requires agricultural employers to make water available to workers, the agricultural employer must ensure that it is of a quality and temperature that will not cause illness or injury when it contacts the skin or eyes or if it is swallowed. If a water source is used for mixing pesticides, it must not be used for decontamination, unless equipped with properly functioning valves or other mechanisms that prevent contamination of the water with pesticides, such as anti-backflow siphons, one-way or check valves, or an air gap sufficient to prevent contamination.
(b) Soap and single-use towels. The agricultural employer must provide soap and single-use towels for drying in quantities sufficient to meet the workers' reasonable needs. Hand sanitizing gels and liquids or wet towelettes do not meet the requirement for soap. Wet towelettes do not meet the requirement for single-use towels.
(3) Timing.
(a) If any pesticide with a restricted-entry interval greater than four hours was applied, the decontamination supplies must be provided from the time workers first enter the treated area until at least thirty days after the restricted-entry interval expires.
(b) If the only pesticides applied in the treated area are products with restricted-entry intervals of four hours or less, the decontamination supplies must be provided from the time workers first enter the treated area until at least seven days after the restricted-entry interval expires.
(4) Location. The decontamination supplies must be located together outside any treated area or area subject to a restricted-entry interval, and must be reasonably accessible to the workers. The decontamination supplies must not be more than one-quarter mile from where workers are working, except that where workers are working more than one-quarter mile from the nearest place of vehicular access or more than one-quarter mile from any nontreated area, the decontamination supplies may be at the nearest place of vehicular access outside any treated area or area subject to a restricted-entry interval.
(5) Decontamination after early entry activities. At the end of any exposure period for workers engaged in early entry activities permitted by WAC
296-307-11415 and involving contact with anything that has been treated with the pesticide to which the restricted-entry interval applies including, but not limited to, soil, water, air, or surfaces of plants, the agricultural employer must provide, at the site where the workers remove personal protective equipment, soap, clean towels, and an adequate amount of water so that the workers may wash thoroughly. At least ten gallons of water for one employee and twenty gallons of water for two or more employees must be provided at early entry sites that do not have running water.
[Statutory Authority: RCW
49.17.010,
49.17.040,
49.17.050 and
49.17.060. WSR 21-04-128, § 296-307-10930, filed 2/2/21, effective 3/8/21. Statutory Authority: RCW
49.17.040,
49.17.050,
49.17.280 and chapter
49.17 RCW. WSR 19-21-169, § 296-307-10930, filed 10/22/19, effective 2/3/20.]