PDFWAC 296-307-15006
Clearance and safeguards required to protect employees working near overhead lines.
(1) All exposed overhead conductors must be isolated from accidental contact by employees or equipment.
(2) Irrigation pipe must not be stored within one hundred feet of overhead conductors.
(3) Upending irrigation pipe within one hundred feet of overhead conductors is prohibited.
(4) Water and irrigation systems, and other devices that discharge a conductive liquid, must be set up and operated so that the discharge from the system is directed more than ten feet away from overhead high-voltage lines, and avoids contact with any exposed electrical power conductor.
(5) Employees are prohibited from entering or working in proximity to high-voltage lines, unless there are guards to prevent accidental contact.
Note: | Voltage 600V and higher is considered high voltage. |
(6) The following are prohibited if it is possible to bring these objects within ten feet of high-voltage lines:
(a) Operating, erecting, or transporting tools, equipment, or a moving part;
(b) Handling, transporting, or storing materials; or
(c) Moving a building near high-voltage lines.
(7) Equipment or machines must be operated near power lines according to the following:
(a) For lines rated 50 kv. or below, minimum clearance between the lines and any part of the object must be ten feet;
(b) For lines rated over 50 kv. minimum clearance between the lines and any part of the object must be ten feet plus four tenths of an inch for each 1 kv., over 50 kv., or twice the length of the line insulator but never less than ten feet;
(c) In transit, the clearance must be a minimum of four feet for voltages less than 50 kv., ten feet for voltages over 50 kv. up to and including 345 kv., and sixteen feet for voltages up to and including 750 kv.;
(d) The employer must designate someone to observe clearance and give warning for operations where it is difficult for the operator to see well enough to maintain the necessary clearance.
Exception: | The employer is exempt from this requirement if electrical distribution and transmission lines have been deenergized and visibly grounded at point of work; or if insulating barriers, not a part of or an attachment to the equipment or machinery, have been erected to prevent physical contact with the lines. |
[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, and 49.17.060. WSR 20-21-091, § 296-307-15006, filed 10/20/20, effective 11/20/20. WSR 97-09-013, recodified as § 296-307-15006, filed 4/7/97, effective 4/7/97. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.040, [49.17.]050 and [49.17.]060. WSR 96-22-048, § 296-306A-15006, filed 10/31/96, effective 12/1/96.]