Subject of Possible Rule Making: WAC 296-155-200 General requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE), construction.

Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: The division of occupational safety and health (DOSH) intends to conduct rule making to update WAC 296-155-200 General requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE), for construction.

DOSH is initiating this rule making to align with the updated requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 29 C.F.R. § 1926.95, Criteria for personal protective equipment, which became effective on January 13, 2025. OSHA updated its PPE standard for construction to explicitly state that PPE must fit properly to provide appropriate protection to employees from workplace hazards. Improperly fitting PPE may fail to provide protection, reduce effectiveness of protection, present additional hazards, or potentially discourage employees from using PPE in the workplace.

Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: None.

Process for Developing New Rule: DOSH will conduct stakeholder meetings to allow those affected by the rule to provide input to this rule preproposal. Parties interested in the formulation of these rules for proposal may contact the individual listed below. The public may also participate by commenting after amendments are proposed by providing written comments or giving oral testimony during the public hearing process.

Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Tari Enos, Administrative Regulations Analyst, Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), DOSH, P.O. Box 44620, Olympia, WA 98504-4620, phone 360-902-5541, fax 360-902-5619, email Tari.Enos@Lni.wa.gov.

Additional comments: For more information on L&I rule making, visit L&I's rule-making activity web page at https://www.Lni.wa.gov/rulemaking-activity/