(1) Within sixty days after the effective date of this chapter, and at any time thereafter that the office of the chief inspector may become vacant, the director of the department of labor and industries shall appoint a chief inspector who shall have had at the time of such appointment not less than ten years practical experience in the construction, maintenance, repair, or operation of high pressure boilers and unfired pressure vessels, as a mechanical engineer, steam engineer, boilermaker, or boiler inspector, and who shall have passed the same kind of examination as that prescribed for deputy or special inspectors in RCW 70.79.170 to be chief inspector until his or her successor shall have been appointed and qualified. Such chief inspector may be removed for cause after due investigation by the board and its recommendation to the director of the department of labor and industries.