PDFWAC 296-155-325
General requirements for storage.
(1) General.
(a) You must stack, rack, block, interlock, or otherwise secure materials stored in tiers to prevent sliding, falling or collapse.
(b) You must conspicuously post maximum safe load limits of floors within buildings and structures, in pounds per square foot, in all storage areas, except for floor or slab on grade. You must not exceed maximum safe loads.
(c) You must keep aisles and passageways clear to provide for the free and safe movement of material handling equipment or employees. You must keep such areas in good repair.
(d) When a difference in road or working levels exist, you must use means such as ramps, blocking, or grading to ensure the safe movement of vehicles between the two levels.
(e) When necessary to store building material on public thoroughfares, you must exercise care to see that it is so piled or stacked as to be safe against collapse or falling over.
(f) You must locate material so as not to interfere with, or present a hazard to employees, traffic, or the public.
(2) Material storage.
(a)(i) You must not place material stored inside buildings under construction within 6 feet of any hoistway or inside floor openings, nor within 10 feet of an exterior wall which does not extend above the top of the material stored.
(ii) Temporary floors, used in steel erection, concrete forms and shoring (i.e., stripped forms, shoring jacks, clamps, steel rods or pipes, base plates, etc.) placed within close proximity to an open-sided floor for movement to another tier for placement, must be considered "in-process equipment and subject to the provisions contained in Parts "O" and "P" of this standard. When this type equipment is to be left overnight or for longer periods of time it must be anchored and braced to prevent displacement in any direction. In addition this equipment must be subject to the provisions of this subsection while in "interim storage."
(b) Each employee required to work on stored material in silos, hoppers, tanks, and similar storage areas must be equipped with personal fall arrest equipment meeting the requirements of chapter 296-880 WAC, Unified safety standards for fall protection.
(c) You must segregate noncompatible materials in storage.
(d) You must stack bagged materials by stepping back the layers and cross-keying the bags at least every 10 bags high.
(i) When cement and lime is delivered in paper bags you must carefully handle them to prevent the bags bursting.
(ii) You must not pile cement and lime bags more than 10 bags high except when stored in bins or enclosures built for the purpose of storage.
(iii) When bags are removed from the pile, you must keep the length of the pile at an even height, and the necessary step backs every 5 bags maintained.
(iv) Persons handling cement and lime bags must wear eye protection which prevents contact between the substance and the worker's eyes (such as goggles or other sealed eye protection) and must wear long sleeve shirts with close fitting collar and cuffs.
(v) You must warn workers against wearing clothing that has become hard and stiff with cement.
(vi) You must instruct workers to report any susceptibility of their skin to cement and lime burns.
(vii) You must provide a hand cream or vaseline and eye wash and keep it ready for use to prevent burns.
(viii) You must store lime in a dry place to prevent a premature slacking action that may cause fire.
(e) You must not store materials on scaffolds or runways in excess of supplies needed for immediate operations.
(f) Brick stacks must not be more than 7 feet in height. When a loose brick stack reaches a height of 4 feet, it must be tapered back two inches in every foot of height above the 4-foot level.
(i) You must never stack brick, for storage purposes, on scaffolds or runways.
(ii) When delivering brick on scaffolds inside the wall lines in wheelbarrows, you must dump them toward the inside of the building and not toward the wall.
(iii) You must always stack blocks and not throw them in a loose pile.
(g) When masonry blocks are stacked higher than 6 feet, the stack must be tapered back one-half block per tier above the 6-foot level.
(i) When blocks are stacked inside a building, you must distribute the piles so as not to overload the floor on which they stand.
(ii) Blocks must not be dropped or thrown from an elevation or delivered through chutes.
(h) Lumber:
(i) Used lumber must have all nails withdrawn before stacking.
(ii) You must stack lumber on level and solidly supported sills.
(iii) You must stack lumber so as to be stable and self-supporting.
(iv) Lumber stacks must not exceed 20 feet in height provided that lumber to be handled manually must not be stacked more than 16 feet high.
(v) You must stack all stored lumber on timber sills to keep it off the ground. You must place sills level on solid supports.
(vi) You must place cross strips in the stacks when they are stacked more than 4 feet high.
(i) You must stack and block structural steel, poles, pipe, bar stock, and other cylindrical materials, unless racked, so as to prevent spreading or tilting.
(i) Persons handling reinforcing steel must wear heavy gloves.
(ii) When bending of reinforcing steel is done on the job, you must provide a strong bench, set up on even dry ground or a floor for the persons to work on.
(iii) You must carefully pile structural steel to prevent danger of members rolling off or the pile toppling over.
(iv) You must keep structural steel in low piles, consideration being given to the sequence of use of the members.
(v) You must stack corrugated and flat iron in flat piles, with the piles not more than 4 feet high and spacing strips must be placed between each bundle.
(j) Sand, gravel and crushed stone.
(i) You must frequently inspect piles to prevent their becoming unsafe by continued adding to or withdrawing from the stock.
(ii) If material becomes frozen, you must not remove it in a manner that would produce an overhang.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.060, and chapter 49.17 RCW. WSR 20-12-091, § 296-155-325, filed 6/2/20, effective 10/1/20. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.060. WSR 16-09-085, § 296-155-325, filed 4/19/16, effective 5/20/16. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.440, 49.17.060, and 29 C.F.R. 1926, Subpart CC. WSR 12-01-086, § 296-155-325, filed 12/20/11, effective 2/1/12. Statutory Authority: Chapter 49.17 RCW. WSR 95-10-016, § 296-155-325, filed 4/25/95, effective 10/1/95; WSR 94-15-096 (Order 94-07), § 296-155-325, filed 7/20/94, effective 9/20/94. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.040 and 49.17.050. WSR 86-03-074 (Order 86-14), § 296-155-325, filed 1/21/86; Order 74-26, § 296-155-325, filed 5/7/74, effective 6/6/74.]