Subject to subsections 1-5 below, compression and decompression
of workmen shall be carried out in accordance with the rules hereinafter
prescribed:
(1) Compression or
decompression may be carried out in accordance with such alternative
regulations as are approved by the state department of labor and industries in
writing.
(2) Except in an
emergency, no workman shall be compressed to a pressure exceeding 50 pounds per
square inch gage unless regulations for the decompression of such workman have
been approved under the foregoing paragraph of this rule.
(3) The monograph "Decompression sickness and
its prevention among compressed air workers" prepared by Gerald J. Duffner,
M.D. (Captain, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy) and dated 6 November 1962, establishes
the criteria for and shall be the guide in the determination of decompression
methods and procedures and the preparation of decompression tables. Copies of
the monograph are available from the supervisor of safety, department of labor
and industries, state of Washington.
(4) A special low-
pressure decompression
chamber of sufficient size to accommodate the entire force of workmen being
decompressed at the end of a shift
shall be provided under the following
circumstances:
Excepting the infrequent, occasional or emergency condition,
when any regularly established routine term or schedule of work includes a
working period requiring a total time of decompression exceeding seventy-five
minutes, the special low-pressure decompression chamber shall be provided and
shall be used as a facility to accomplish the final stage or phase of
decompression. The special chamber shall conform with and shall be operated in
accordance with sections WAC
296-36-130 and
296-36-120(2)
example No. 2 respectively.
(5) When a workman has, within the
immediately preceding period of 8 hours, been exposed to a pressure greater
than 13 pounds per square inch gage and has to be compressed in a man lock
other than the lock in which he was last decompressed, he shall, before
compression, produce to the lock attendant written particulars signed by the
lock attendant of the lock where he was last decompressed indicating his last
working period. For the purposes of these regulations, the term "working
period" shall mean the period or the sum of the periods during which, since
last subject to ordinary atmospheric pressure for at least 8 consecutive hours,
a workman has been under pressure in a working chamber or chambers; the written
particulars shall be specific in stating the length of time the workman was
exposed to compressed air, the gage pressure to which he was subjected, the
schedule of decompression used, the total length of time devoted to
decompression procedures and the hour at which decompression was completed. As
soon as practicable, all data shall be entered in the prescribed register or
log at the lock where he is compressed and the data shall, as soon as
practicable, be communicated to the attendant at any other lock from which the
workman is liable to return to the open air.
