[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to enhancing the competitiveness of Washington's agricultural and food processing industries; amending RCW 49.46.020, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 34.05.570, and 49.17.020; adding a new section to chapter 49.17 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 49.30 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 15 RCW; repealing RCW 49.17.041 and 49.17.280; and prescribing penalties.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 49.46.020 and 1999 c 1 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) ((~~Until January 1, 1999, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than four dollars and ninety cents per hour.~~

(2) Beginning January 1, 1999, and until January 1, 2000, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than five dollars and seventy cents per hour.

(3) Beginning January 1, 2000, and until January 1, 2001, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than six dollars and fifty cents per hour.

~~(4)(a) Beginning on January 1, 2001, and each following~~)) (a) Except as set forth under (c) of this subsection, on January 1st as set forth under (b) of this subsection, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than the amount established under (b) of this subsection.

(b) On ((~~September 30, 2000, and on each following~~)) September 30th, the department of labor and industries shall calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate to maintain employee purchasing power by increasing the current year's minimum wage rate by the rate of inflation. The adjusted minimum wage rate shall be calculated to the nearest cent using the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, CPI-W, or a successor index, for the twelve months prior to each September 1st as calculated by the United States department of labor. Each adjusted minimum wage rate calculated under this subsection ((~~(4)~~)) (1)(b) takes effect on the following January 1st.

((~~(5)~~)) (c) Every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years and who performs services in agriculture or processing as defined in section 6 of this act wages at a rate of not less than six dollars and ninety cents per hour.

(2) The director shall by regulation establish the minimum wage for employees under the age of eighteen years.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:

Rules dealing with musculoskeletal disorders, adopted on May 26, 2000, by the director, and codified as WAC 296-62-05101 through 296-62-05176, do not apply to employees who perform services in agriculture or processing as defined in section 6 of this act.

Sec. 3. RCW 49.17.040 and 1973 c 80 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

Except as provided in section 2 of this act, the director shall make, adopt, modify, and repeal rules and regulations governing safety and health standards for conditions of employment as authorized by this chapter after a public hearing in conformance with the administrative procedure act and the provisions of this chapter. At least thirty days prior to such public hearing, the director shall cause public notice of such hearing to be made in newspapers of general circulation in this state, of the date, time, and place of such public hearing, along with a general description of the subject matter of the proposed rules and information as to where copies of any rules and regulations proposed for adoption may be obtained and with a solicitation for recommendations in writing or suggestions for inclusion or changes in such rules to be submitted not later than five days prior to such public hearing. Any preexisting rules adopted by the department of labor and industries relating to health and safety standards in work places subject to the jurisdiction of the department shall remain effective insofar as such rules are not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter.

Sec. 4. RCW 49.17.050 and 1998 c 224 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

Except as provided in RCW 49.17.040, in the adoption of rules and regulations under the authority of this chapter, the director shall:

(1) Provide for the preparation, adoption, amendment, or repeal of rules and regulations of safety and health standards governing the conditions of employment of general and special application in all work places;

(2) Provide for the adoption of occupational health and safety standards which are at least as effective as those adopted or recognized by the United States secretary of labor under the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-596; 84 Stat. 1590);

(3) Provide a method of encouraging employers and employees in their efforts to reduce the number of safety and health hazards at their work places and to stimulate employers and employees to institute new and to perfect existing programs for providing safe and healthful working conditions;

(4) Provide for the promulgation of health and safety standards and the control of conditions in all work places concerning gases, vapors, dust, or other airborne particles, toxic materials, or harmful physical agents which shall set a standard which most adequately assures, to the extent feasible, on the basis of the best available evidence, that no employee will suffer material impairment of health or functional capacity even if such employee has regular exposure to the hazard dealt with by such standard for the period of his working life; any such standards shall require where appropriate the use of protective devices or equipment and for monitoring or measuring any such gases, vapors, dust, or other airborne particles, toxic materials, or harmful physical agents;

(5) Provide for appropriate reporting procedures by employers with respect to such information relating to conditions of employment which will assist in achieving the objectives of this chapter;

(6) Provide for the frequency, method, and manner of the making of inspections of work places without advance notice; and,

(7) Provide for the publication and dissemination to employers, employees, and labor organizations and the posting where appropriate by employers of informational, education, or training materials calculated to aid and assist in achieving the objectives of this chapter;

(8) Provide for the establishment of new and the perfection and expansion of existing programs for occupational safety and health education for employers and employees, and, in addition institute methods and procedures for the establishment of a program for voluntary compliance solely through the use of advice and consultation with employers and employees with recommendations including recommendations of methods to abate violations relating to the requirements of this chapter and all applicable safety and health standards and rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority of this chapter;

(9) Provide for the adoption of safety and health standards requiring the use of safeguards in trenches and excavations and around openings of hoistways, hatchways, elevators, stairways, and similar openings;

(10) Provide for the promulgation of health and safety standards requiring the use of safeguards for all vats, pans, trimmers, cut off, gang edger, and other saws, planers, presses, formers, cogs, gearing, belting, shafting, coupling, set screws, live rollers, conveyors, mangles in laundries, and machinery of similar description, which can be effectively guarded with due regard to the ordinary use of such machinery and appliances and the danger to employees therefrom, and with which the employees of any such work place may come in contact while in the performance of their duties and prescribe methods, practices, or processes to be followed by employers which will enhance the health and safety of employees in the performance of their duties when in proximity to machinery or appliances mentioned in this subsection;

(11) Certify that no later than twenty business days prior to the effective date of any significant legislative rule, as defined by RCW 34.05.328, a meeting of impacted parties is convened to: (a) Identify ambiguities and problem areas in the rule; (b) coordinate education and public relations efforts by all parties; (c) provide comments regarding internal department training and enforcement plans; and (d) provide comments regarding appropriate evaluation mechanisms to determine the effectiveness of the new rule. The meeting shall include a balanced representation of both business and labor from impacted industries, department personnel responsible for the above subject areas, and other agencies or key stakeholder groups as determined by the department. An existing advisory committee may be utilized if appropriate.

Sec. 5. RCW 34.05.570 and 1995 c 403 s 802 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Generally. Except to the extent that this chapter or another statute provides otherwise:

(a) The burden of demonstrating the invalidity of agency action is on the party asserting invalidity;

(b) The validity of agency action shall be determined in accordance with the standards of review provided in this section, as applied to the agency action at the time it was taken;

(c) The court shall make a separate and distinct ruling on each material issue on which the court's decision is based; and

(d) The court shall grant relief only if it determines that a person seeking judicial relief has been substantially prejudiced by the action complained of.

(2) Review of rules. (a) A rule may be reviewed by petition for declaratory judgment filed pursuant to this subsection or in the context of any other review proceeding under this section. In an action challenging the validity of a rule, the agency shall be made a party to the proceeding.

(b) The validity of any rule may be determined upon petition for a declaratory judgment addressed to the superior court of ((~~Thurston~~)) any county, when it appears that the rule, or its threatened application, interferes with or impairs or immediately threatens to interfere with or impair the legal rights or privileges of the petitioner. The declaratory judgment order may be entered whether or not the petitioner has first requested the agency to pass upon the validity of the rule in question.

(c) In a proceeding involving review of a rule, the court shall declare the rule invalid only if it finds that: The rule violates constitutional provisions; the rule exceeds the statutory authority of the agency; the rule was adopted without compliance with statutory rule-making procedures; or the rule is arbitrary and capricious.

(3) Review of agency orders in adjudicative proceedings. The court shall grant relief from an agency order in an adjudicative proceeding only if it determines that:

(a) The order, or the statute or rule on which the order is based, is in violation of constitutional provisions on its face or as applied;

(b) The order is outside the statutory authority or jurisdiction of the agency conferred by any provision of law;

(c) The agency has engaged in unlawful procedure or decision-making process, or has failed to follow a prescribed procedure;

(d) The agency has erroneously interpreted or applied the law;

(e) The order is not supported by evidence that is substantial when viewed in light of the whole record before the court, which includes the agency record for judicial review, supplemented by any additional evidence received by the court under this chapter;

(f) The agency has not decided all issues requiring resolution by the agency;

(g) A motion for disqualification under RCW 34.05.425 or 34.12.050 was made and was improperly denied or, if no motion was made, facts are shown to support the grant of such a motion that were not known and were not reasonably discoverable by the challenging party at the appropriate time for making such a motion;

(h) The order is inconsistent with a rule of the agency unless the agency explains the inconsistency by stating facts and reasons to demonstrate a rational basis for inconsistency; or

(i) The order is arbitrary or capricious.

(4) Review of other agency action.

(a) All agency action not reviewable under subsection (2) or (3) of this section shall be reviewed under this subsection.

(b) A person whose rights are violated by an agency's failure to perform a duty that is required by law to be performed may file a petition for review pursuant to RCW 34.05.514, seeking an order pursuant to this subsection requiring performance. Within twenty days after service of the petition for review, the agency shall file and serve an answer to the petition, made in the same manner as an answer to a complaint in a civil action. The court may hear evidence, pursuant to RCW 34.05.562, on material issues of fact raised by the petition and answer.

(c) Relief for persons aggrieved by the performance of an agency action, including the exercise of discretion, or an action under (b) of this subsection can be granted only if the court determines that the action is:

(i) Unconstitutional;

(ii) Outside the statutory authority of the agency or the authority conferred by a provision of law;

(iii) Arbitrary or capricious; or

(iv) Taken by persons who were not properly constituted as agency officials lawfully entitled to take such action.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 49.30 RCW to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, "services in agriculture or processing" means employment:

(1) On a farm, in the employ of any person, in connection with the cultivation of the soil, or in connection with raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training, and management of livestock, bees, poultry, and furbearing animals and wildlife, or in the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator of a farm in connection with the operation, management, conservation, improvement, or maintenance of such farm and its tools and equipment;

(2) In packing, packaging, grading, storing or delivering to storage, or to market or to a carrier for transportation to market, any agricultural or horticultural commodity;

(3) Commercial canning, commercial freezing, or any other commercial processing, or with respect to services performed in connection with the cultivation, raising, harvesting, and processing of oysters or in connection with any agricultural or horticultural commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for distribution for consumption;

(4) In distributing or selling any pesticide as defined by RCW 15.58.030 or any agricultural chemical; or

(5) In office management or other support services directly related to employment described in subsections (1) through (4) of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Agricultural safety and health standard" means a rule adopted by the department that requires the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes reasonably necessary or appropriate to provide safe or healthful agricultural employment and places of agricultural employment.

(2) "Agriculture" means farming and includes, but is not limited to:

(a) The cultivation and tillage of the soil;

(b) Dairying;

(d) The raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry; and

(e) Any practices performed by a farmer or on a farm, incident to or in connection with such farming operations, including but not limited to preparation for market and delivery to:

(i) Storage;

(ii) Market; or

(iii) Carriers for transportation to market.

The term "agriculture" does not mean a farmer's processing a commodity or product grown or produced by a person other than the farmer or the farmer's employees for sale or handling for sale.

(3) "Department" means the department of agriculture.

(4) "Director" means the director of the department of agriculture, or the director's designee.

(5) "Employee" means an employee of an employer who is employed in agriculture 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 his or her personal labor for an employer under this chapter whether by way of manual labor or otherwise.

(6) "Employer" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, business trust, legal representative, or other business entity that engages in agriculture in this state and employs one or more employees or who contracts 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.

(7) "Person" means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, business trusts, legal representatives, or any organized group of persons.

(8) "Working day" means a calendar day, except Saturdays, Sundays, and all legal holidays as set forth in RCW 1.16.050. To compute time within which an act is to be done under this chapter, working day excludes the first working day and includes the last working day.

(9) "Workplace" means any plant, yard, premises, room, or other place where an employee or employees are employed for the performance of labor or service over which the employer has the right of access or control.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. This chapter applies with respect to employment performed in any agricultural workplace within the state. The department must provide, by rule, for a schedule of fees and charges to be paid by each employer subject to this chapter. The fees and charges collected will be for the purpose of defraying such employer's pro rata share of the expenses of enforcing and administering this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The director may make, adopt, modify, and repeal rules governing safety and health standards for conditions of employment in agriculture after a public hearing in conformance with the administrative procedure act and this chapter. At least thirty days before the public hearing, the director will cause public notice of the hearing to be made in newspapers of general circulation in this state. Notice must include the date, time, and place of the public hearing, along with a general description of the subject matter of the proposed rules and information as to where copies of any rules proposed for adoption may be obtained. Notice must include a solicitation for recommendations in writing or suggestions for inclusion or changes in the rules to be submitted not later than five days before the public hearing.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Each employer must comply with applicable agricultural safety and health standards.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. The director may issue a temporary order granting an employer a variance from a safety and health standard. The director must adopt rules governing variances that are consistent with RCW 49.17.080 and 49.17.090.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. (1) The director, upon the presentation of appropriate credentials to the owner, manager, operator, or agent in charge, is authorized:

(a) To enter, without delay and at all reasonable times, the workplace where work is performed by an employee of an employer; and

(b) To inspect, survey, and investigate during regular working hours and at other reasonable times, and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner, any workplace and all pertinent conditions, structures, machines, apparatus, devices, equipment, and materials therein, and to question privately any employer, owner, operator, agent, or employee.

(2) In making inspections and investigations under this chapter, the director may require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence under oath. Witnesses will be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid to witnesses in the superior courts. In the case of contumacy, failure, or refusal of any person to obey an order, a superior court with jurisdiction, upon the application of the director, may issue an order requiring the person to appear to produce evidence and to give testimony relating to the matter under investigation or in question. The failure to obey an order of the court may be punishable by contempt.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. A representative of the employer and an employee authorized representative must be given an opportunity to accompany the director during the physical inspection of any workplace to aid the inspection. Where there is no employee authorized representative, the director must consult with a reasonable number of employees concerning matters of health and safety in the workplace. The director may adopt rules to implement this section. However, neither this section, nor this chapter, may be construed to interfere with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to bargain collectively with their employers through representatives of their own choosing concerning wages or standards or conditions of employment that equal or exceed those established under this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. Each employee must comply with this chapter and any rules issued under this chapter that apply to the employee's own actions and conduct in the course of employment. An employee or employee authorized representative who in good faith believes that a violation of an agricultural safety and health standard exists that threatens physical harm to employees, or that an imminent danger to such employees exists, may request an inspection of the workplace by giving notice to the director of the violation or danger. Notice must be in writing, must set forth with reasonable particularity the grounds for the notice, and must be signed by the employee or employee authorized representative. A copy of the notice must be provided to the employer or the employer's agent by the time of inspection. Upon the request of the person giving notice, the employee's name and the names of employees referred to therein may not appear in the copy or on any record published, released, or made available under this chapter. If upon receipt of the notice the director determines that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the violation or danger exists, the director must make a special inspection as soon as practicable, to determine if the violation or danger exists. If the director determines there are no reasonable grounds to believe that a violation or danger exists, the director must notify the employer and the employee or employee authorized representative in writing of the determination.

Before or during any inspection of a workplace, an employee or employee authorized representative may notify the director, in writing, of a violation of this chapter which the employee has reason to believe exists in the workplace. The director must, by rule, establish procedures for informal review of any refusal by a representative of the director to issue a citation with respect to any alleged violation, and must furnish the employee or employee authorized representative requesting review a written statement of the reasons for the director's final disposition of the case.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. (1) If upon inspection or investigation the director believes that an employer has violated either a safety and health standard or the conditions of any order granting a variance, the director must with reasonable promptness issue a citation to the employer. Each citation must be in writing and must describe with particularity the nature of the violation, including a reference to the statute or rule alleged to have been violated. In addition, the citation must fix a reasonable time for the abatement of the violation.

(2) The director may prescribe procedures for the issuance of a notice in lieu of a citation with respect to de minimis violations that have no direct or immediate relationship to safety or health.

(3) Each citation, or a copy or copies thereof, issued under this section and section 16 of this act must be prominently posted at or near each place a violation referred to in the citation occurred or as may otherwise be prescribed in rules issued by the director. The director must provide, by rule, for procedures to be followed by an employee authorized representative upon written application to receive copies of citations and notices issued to any employer having employees who are represented by such employee authorized representative. The rule may prescribe the form of such application, the time for renewal of applications, and the eligibility of the applicant to receive copies of citations and notices.

(4) No citation may be issued under this section or section 16 of this act after six months following a compliance inspection, investigation, or survey revealing any violation.

(5)(a) No citation may be issued under this section if there is unpreventable employee misconduct that led to the violation, but the employer must show the existence of:

(i) A thorough safety program, including work rules, training, and equipment designed to prevent the violation;

(ii) Adequate communication of these rules to employees;

(iii) Steps to discover and correct violations of its safety rules; and

(iv) Effective enforcement of its safety program as written in practice and not just in theory.

(b) This subsection (5) does not eliminate or modify any other defenses that may exist to a citation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. (1) If upon inspection or investigation the director believes that an employer has violated either a safety and health standard or the conditions of any order granting a variance, which violation is such that a danger exists from which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result to any employee, the director must issue a citation and may issue an order immediately restraining any such condition, practice, method, process, or means in the workplace. Any order issued under this section may require that steps be taken to avoid, correct, or remove the danger and prohibit the employment or presence of any individual in locations or under conditions where the danger exists, except individuals whose presence is necessary to avoid, correct, or remove the danger or to maintain the capacity of a continuous process operation in order that the resumption of normal operations may be had without a complete cessation of operations or, where a cessation of operations is necessary, to permit such to be accomplished in a safe and orderly manner. In addition, if any machine or equipment, or any part thereof, is in violation of an agricultural safety and health standard, and the operation of the machine or equipment gives rise to a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result to any employee, and an order of immediate restraint of the use of the machine or equipment has been issued under this subsection, the use of the machine or equipment is prohibited, and a notice to that effect must be attached thereto by the director.

(2) Whenever the director concludes that a condition of employment described in subsection (1) of this section exists in a workplace, he or she must promptly inform the affected employees and employers of the danger.

(3) At any time that a citation or a citation and order restraining any condition of employment or practice described in subsection (1) of this section is issued by the director, he or she may request the attorney general to make an application to the superior court of the county wherein such condition of employment or practice exists for a temporary restraining order or other appropriate relief.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. (1) If the director issues a citation under the authority of section 15 or 16 of this act, the department, within a reasonable time after the termination of an inspection or investigation, must notify the employer by certified mail of the penalty to be assessed under the authority of section 18 of this act and must state that the employer has thirty days within which to notify the director that the employer wishes to appeal the citation or assessment of the penalty.

(2) An employer aggrieved by an action taken or decision made by the department under this chapter may appeal the citation or assessment of the penalty to the director by filing notice of the appeal with the director within thirty days of the department's action or decision. A notice of appeal filed under this section will stay the effectiveness of a citation or notice of the assessment of a penalty pending review of the appeal by the director, but the appeal does not stay the effectiveness of an order of immediate restraint issued under section 16 of this act. Upon receipt of an appeal, a hearing must be held in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW. The director will issue all final orders after the hearing. The final orders are subject to appeal in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW. Orders not appealed within the time period specified in chapter 34.05 RCW are final and binding.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. (1) An employer who willfully or repeatedly violates the requirements of either an agricultural safety and health standard or an order granting a variance may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed seventy thousand dollars for each violation. A minimum penalty of five thousand dollars will be assessed for a willful violation.

(2) Any employer who is cited for a serious violation of the requirements of an agricultural safety and health standard or an order granting a variance will be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed seven thousand dollars for each violation.

(3) Any employer who is cited for a violation of the requirements of an agricultural safety and health standard or an order granting a variance that is not a serious violation under subsection (6) of this section may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed seven thousand dollars for each violation, unless such violation is determined to be de minimis.

(4) Any employer who fails to correct a violation for which a citation has been issued under section 15 or 16 of this act within the period permitted for its correction may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than seven thousand dollars for each day during which such failure or violation continues. The period permitted for the violation's correction does not begin to run until the date of the final order in the case of any review proceedings under this chapter initiated by the employer in good faith and not solely for delay or avoidance of penalties.

(5) Any employer who violates any of the posting requirements of this chapter, or any of the posting requirements of rules adopted by the department under this chapter related to employee or employee authorized representative's rights to notice will be assessed a penalty not to exceed seven thousand dollars for each violation.

(6) For the purposes of this section, a serious violation exists in a workplace if there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a condition that exists in the workplace, or from one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes that have been adopted or are in use in the workplace, unless the employer did not, and could not with the exercise of reasonable diligence, know of the presence of the violation.

(7) The director may assess civil penalties provided in this section, giving due consideration to the appropriateness of the penalty with respect to the number of affected employees of the employer being charged, the gravity of the violation, the size of the employer's business, the good faith of the employer, and the history of previous violations.

(8) The department may recover civil penalties in an action brought in the superior court of the county where the violation is alleged to have occurred.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 19. (1) The director must adopt rules requiring employers to make, keep, preserve, and make available to the director records regarding the employer's activities relating to this chapter that are necessary or appropriate for the enforcement of this chapter.

(2) The director must adopt rules requiring employers, through posting of notices or other appropriate means, to inform their employees of their protections and obligations under this chapter.

(3) The director must adopt rules requiring employers to maintain accurate records of:

(a) Work-related deaths;

(b) Injuries and illnesses other than minor injuries; and

(c) Employee exposures to potentially toxic materials or harmful physical agents which are required to be monitored or measured.

Sec. 20. RCW 49.17.020 and 1997 c 362 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

For the purposes of this chapter:

(1) The term "agriculture" means farming and includes, but is not limited to:

(a) The cultivation and tillage of the soil;

(b) Dairying;

(d) The raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry; and

(e) Any practices performed by a farmer or on a farm, incident to or in connection with such farming operations, including but not limited to preparation for market and delivery to:

(i) Storage;

(ii) Market; or

(iii) Carriers for transportation to market.

The term "agriculture" does not mean a farmer's processing for sale or handling for sale a commodity or product grown or produced by a person other than the farmer or the farmer's employees.

(2) The term "director" means the director of the department of labor and industries, or his or her designated representative.

(3) The term "department" means the department of labor and industries.

(4) The term "employer" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, business trust, legal representative, or other business entity which engages in any business, industry, profession, or activity other than agriculture in this state and employs one or more employees or who contracts 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((~~: PROVIDED, That~~)). However, any person, partnership, or business entity not having employees, and who is covered by the industrial insurance act ((~~shall be~~)) is considered both an employer and an employee.

(5) The term "employee" means an employee of an employer who is employed in the business of his or her employer other than agriculture 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 his or her personal labor for an employer under this chapter whether by way of manual labor or otherwise.

(6) The term "person" means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, business trusts, legal representatives, or any organized group of persons.

(7) The term "safety and health standard" means a standard which requires the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes reasonably necessary or appropriate to provide safe or healthful employment and places of employment.

(8) The term "work place" means any plant, yard, premises, room, or other place where an employee or employees are employed for the performance of labor or service over which the employer has the right of access or control, and includes, but is not limited to, all work places covered by industrial insurance under Title 51 RCW, as now or hereafter amended.

(9) The term "working day" means a calendar day, except Saturdays, Sundays, and all legal holidays as set forth in RCW 1.16.050, as now or hereafter amended, and for the purposes of the computation of time within which an act is to be done under the provisions of this chapter, shall be computed by excluding the first working day and including the last working day.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 21. The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:

(1) RCW 49.17.041 (Agricultural safety standards--Limitation on adopting or establishing between January 1, 1995, through January 15, 1996--Requirements) and 1995 c 371 s 2; and

(2) RCW 49.17.280 (Agricultural workers and handlers of agricultural pesticides--Coordination of regulation and enforcement with department of agriculture) and 1996 c 260 s 2.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 22. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 23. Sections 7 through 19 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 15 RCW.