Chapter 296-833 WAC
Last Update: 11/6/18TEMPORARY HOUSING FOR WORKERS
WAC Sections
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-100 | Scope. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-10010 | Summary. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-200 | Shelter location and structure requirements. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-20005 | Provide and maintain sufficient grounds and open areas in temporary housing sites. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-20010 | Follow these design and equipment requirements for shelters. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-300 | Employers must provide utilities. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-30005 | Provide electricity and lighting to temporary housing areas. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-30010 | Provide adequate water. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-30015 | Provide toilet facilities. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-30020 | Follow local regulations for sewage disposal. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-400 | Service facilities: Food preparation, dining, bathing, laundry and handwashing. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-40005 | Provide service buildings for laundry, handwashing and bathing. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-40010 | Provide cooking, food-handling, and dining facilities. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-500 | Waste disposal and pest control. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-50005 | Follow proper waste disposal procedures. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-50010 | Control insects, rodents, and other pests. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-600 | Employee first aid and communicable disease reporting. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-60005 | Provide first-aid facilities. |
| HTMLPDF | 296-833-60010 | Report communicable diseases. |
PDF296-833-100
Scope.
This chapter applies to all employers who provide or require their employees to live in temporary housing.
Exemption:
This rule does not apply to the agriculture industry.
For agriculture employers, see WAC 296-307-161, Temporary worker housing and cherry harvest camps.
PDF296-833-10010
Summary.
Your responsibility:
If you choose to provide temporary housing for workers, or require them to live on the grounds in housing they provide themselves, you must make sure the housing facilities meet the requirements of this rule.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.[17.]040, 49.[17.]050, and 49.[17.]060. WSR 02-23-073, § 296-833-10010, filed 11/19/02, effective 1/1/03.]
PDF296-833-200
Shelter location and structure requirements.
Your responsibility:
To provide and maintain safe and healthful housing for your temporary workers.
You must meet the requirements… | in this section: |
Provide and maintain sufficient grounds and open areas in temporary housing sites | WAC 296-833-20005 |
Follow these design and equipment requirements for shelters | WAC 296-833-20010 |
PDF296-833-20005
Provide and maintain sufficient grounds and open areas in temporary housing sites.
(1) You must make sure that all temporary housing sites:
(a) Are adequately drained and are free from ground depressions in which water may accumulate;
(b) Have no history of flooding;
(c) Do not endanger any domestic or public water supply with their drainage; and
(d) Are located at least two hundred feet from a swamp, pool, sink hole, or other surface collection of water unless the water surface can be treated for mosquito control.
(2) You must make sure the housing area is large enough to prevent the buildings from being crowded too closely together.
(3) You must make sure the principal housing areas for sleeping and food preparation/eating are at least five hundred feet from livestock operations.
Note: | Livestock operations include, among other things, dairy farms, corrals, slaughterhouses, feedlots, and stockyards. Operations where livestock can roam on a pasture over a distance may be treated as outside the definition. |
(4) You must make sure that grounds and open areas surrounding the shelters are maintained in a clean and sanitary condition.
PDF296-833-20010
Follow these design and equipment requirements for shelters.
(1) You must make sure that every shelter in the camp provides protection against the elements.
(2) You must make sure each dwelling unit:
(a) Has at least seventy square feet of floor space for the first occupant and at least fifty square feet of floor space for each additional occupant;
(b) That is designated a family unit has a separate sleeping area for children over six years old;
(c) With designated sleeping room(s) has at least fifty square feet of floor space in the sleeping room for each occupant;
(d) Has at least a seven-foot ceiling;
(e) Has windows covering a total area equal to at least one-tenth of the floor area with at least one-half of which can be opened for ventilation;
(f) Has each exterior opening screened with 16-mesh material;
(g) Has screen doors with self-closing devices.
(3) You must make sure that the floors of each shelter are constructed of wood, asphalt, or concrete.
(a) Floors must be kept in good repair.
(b) If wooden floors are used, they must be:
(i) Elevated one foot above ground level at all points to prevent dampness and to permit free air circulation;
(ii) Smooth and tight.
Note: | You may "bank" around outside walls with earth or other suitable material to guard against extreme low temperatures. |
(4) You must provide beds, cots, or bunks, and suitable storage facilities such as wall lockers for clothing and personal articles in every sleeping room.
(a) Beds must be at least thirty-six inches away from other beds, both side to side and end to end.
(b) The frame of the bed must keep mattresses at least twelve inches off the floor.
(c) Double-deck bunks must be spaced at least forty-eight inches away from other beds, both side to side and end to end.
(d) The minimum clear space between lower and upper bunks must be at least twenty-seven inches.
(e) Triple-deck bunks are not allowed.
(5) You must provide equipment that adequately heats the living area whenever the camp is used during cold weather.
Note: | All heating, cooking, and water heating equipment must meet state and local ordinances, codes, and regulations concerning installation. |
PDF296-833-300
Employers must provide utilities.
Your responsibility:
To provide utilities to your temporary housing camps.
You must meet the requirements… | in this section: |
Provide electricity and lighting to temporary housing areas | WAC 296-833-30005 |
Provide adequate water | WAC 296-833-30010 |
Provide toilet facilities | WAC 296-833-30015 |
Follow local regulations for sewage disposal | WAC 296-833-30020 |
PDF296-833-30005
Provide electricity and lighting to temporary housing areas.
(1) You must supply electricity to all:
(a) Dwelling units
(b) Kitchen facilities
(c) Shower/bathroom facilities
(d) Common areas
(e) Laundry facilities.
Reference:
You need to follow additional requirements for electricity and lighting. See WAC 296-800-280, Basic electrical rules, in the safety and health core rules book for more information.
(2) You must provide lighting to camp buildings.
(a) Make sure general lighting and task lighting are adequate for normal daily activities.
(b) Make sure living quarters have:
(i) One ceiling-type light fixture; and
(ii) One separate floor or wall convenience outlet.
(c) Make sure laundry rooms, toilet rooms, and other common areas have at least:
(i) One ceiling light fixture; or
(ii) A wall light fixture.
PDF296-833-30010
Provide adequate water.
(1) You must provide a water supply that is adequate and convenient for:
(a) Drinking;
(b) Cooking;
(c) Bathing;
(d) Laundry purposes.
(2) You must make sure the water supply system is:
(a) Capable of delivering:
(i) Thirty-five gallons per person per day to the campsite;
(ii) At a peak rate of two and one-half times the average hourly demand.
(b) Able to supply water to all fixtures at the same time with normal operating pressures;
(c) Approved by the appropriate health authority.
(3) You must supply water to each housing area by either:
(a) Piping water directly to the shelters; or
(b) Providing yard hydrants within one hundred feet of the shelters.
(4) You must prohibit common drinking cups.
(5) You must provide one or more drinking fountain(s) for each one hundred occupants (or fraction of that number) where water under pressure is available.
PDF296-833-30015
Provide toilet facilities.
Note: | For the purposes of this rule, a restroom is a room maintained on the premises for use by employees that contains a toilet. This includes outhouses. |
(1) You must provide enough toilets for the camp's capacity.
(a) Toilets and outhouses must be provided in a ratio of one for every fifteen people;
(b) With a minimum of two units for any facility shared by men and women.
Note: | Check with your local jurisdictions for regulations regarding outhouses. |
(2) You must have enough rest rooms for each sex based on the maximum number of persons the camp is designed to house at any one time.
(3) You must provide separate rest rooms for each sex wherever rest rooms are in buildings shared by men and women.
(a) Distinctly mark the rooms "men" and "women" with:
(i) Signs printed in English and in the native language of the persons occupying the camp; or
(ii) Easily understood pictures or symbols.
(b) If the facilities for each sex are in the same building, they must be separated by:
(i) Solid walls; or
(ii) Partitions extending from the floor to the roof or ceiling.
(4) You must make sure:
(a) No one has to pass through a sleeping room to reach a rest room;
(b) Rest rooms have a window of at least six square feet opening directly to the outside, or are satisfactorily ventilated;
(c) All outside openings are screened with 16-mesh material;
(d) Fixtures, toilets, chemical toilets, or urinals are not located in a room used for other than toilet purposes;
(e) A rest room is within two hundred feet of the door of each sleeping room;
(f) Any outhouse is at least one hundred feet away from any sleeping room, dining room, lunch area, or kitchen.
(5) You must provide urinals as follows:
(a) One urinal or two linear feet of urinal trough for each twenty-five men;
(b) Construct the floor out of materials that are moisture proof, from the wall and out at least fifteen inches from the outer edge of the urinals;
(c) Have an adequate water flush in urinals when water under pressure is available;
(d) Urinal troughs in outhouses must:
(i) Drain freely into the pit or vault; and
(ii) Have a drain constructed to exclude flies and rodents from the pit.
(6) You must install any new toilets in a rest room.
(7) You must make sure:
(a) There is an adequate supply of toilet paper for each rest room, outhouse, or chemical toilet;
(b) Toilet facilities are:
(i) Kept in sanitary condition; and
(ii) Cleaned at least daily.
PDF296-833-30020
Follow local regulations for sewage disposal.
You must provide sewage disposal systems according to local health jurisdictions.
PDF296-833-400
Service facilities: Food preparation, dining, bathing, laundry and handwashing.
Your responsibility:
To provide facilities for your employees to cook, eat, do laundry, bathe, and wash their hands.
You must meet the requirements… | in this section: |
Provide service buildings for laundry, handwashing and bathing | WAC 296-833-40005 |
Provide cooking, food-handling, and dining facilities | WAC 296-833-40010 |
PDF296-833-40005
Provide service buildings for laundry, handwashing and bathing.
(1) You must make sure that every service building has equipment capable of maintaining a room temperature of at least seventy degrees Fahrenheit.
(2) You must make sure an adequate supply of hot and cold running water is provided for bathing and laundry purposes.
(3) You must provide:
(a) One handwash basin;
(i) Per family shelter; or
(ii) Per six persons in shared facilities.
(b) One shower head for every ten persons;
(c) One laundry tray or tub for every thirty persons;
(d) One "deepwell" type sink in each building used for laundry, handwashing, and bathing.
(4) You must make sure all:
(a) Laundry, handwashing and bathing room floors:
(i) Are moisture-resistant and smooth but not slippery; and
(ii) Have coved junctions of the curbing and the floor.
(b) Walls and partitions of shower rooms are smooth and moisture-resistant to the height where water splashes.
(c) Shower baths, shower rooms, or laundry rooms have floor drains to remove wastewater and facilitate cleaning.
(5) You must provide facilities for drying clothes.
(6) You must keep all service buildings clean.
PDF296-833-40010
Provide cooking, food-handling, and dining facilities.
(1) You must make sure common cooking and dining areas are of adequate size and are separated from sleeping areas by a door.
(2) You must provide enclosed and screened cooking and food-handling facilities for all occupants. The facilities must include:
(a) A working cook stove or hot plate with at least one cooking surface for every two occupants;
(b) A sink with hot and cold running potable water under pressure;
(c) Food storage areas located off the floor;
(d) Nonabsorbent, easily cleanable food preparation counters;
(e) Mechanical refrigeration capable of maintaining a temperature of forty-five degrees Fahrenheit or below, with enough space to store perishable food items for all occupants;
(f) Fire-resistant, nonabsorbent, nonasbestos, and easily cleanable wall coverings close to cooking areas;
(g) Nonabsorbent, easily cleanable floors;
(h) At least one ceiling or wall light fixture;
(i) Lighting adequate for normal food preparation activities;
(j) Adequate ventilation for cooking facilities.
(3) You must make sure that dining halls:
(a) Meet the requirements of the department of health's rules in chapter 246-215 WAC, Food service;
(b) Have no direct openings to living or sleeping areas;
(c) Have fire-resistant, nonabsorbent, nonasbestos, and easy-to-clean wall coverings adjacent to cooking areas;
(d) Have nonabsorbent, easy-to-clean floors;
(e) Have at least one ceiling or wall light fixture;
(f) Have lighting adequate for normal dining activities.
PDF296-833-500
Waste disposal and pest control.
Your responsibility:
To make sure your temporary housing camps are kept sanitary.
You must meet the requirements… | in this section: |
Follow proper waste disposal procedures | WAC 296-833-50005 |
Control insects, rodents, and other pests | WAC 296-833-50010 |
PDF296-833-50005
Follow proper waste disposal procedures.
(1) You must provide at least one garbage container for each family shelter. Garbage containers must be:
(a) Placed on a wooden, metal, or concrete pad; and
(b) Located within one hundred feet of each shelter.
(2) You must provide garbage containers that:
(a) Are nonabsorbent;
(b) Are cleanable OR only used once (for example, a disposable plastic liner);
(c) Can be securely closed.
(3) You must make sure garbage containers are kept clean and emptied:
(a) At least twice a week; and
(b) When full.
PDF296-833-50010
Control insects, rodents, and other pests.
(1) You must take steps to effectively prevent insects, rodents, and other pests from infesting camp areas.
(2) You must carry out a continuing and effective control program where pests have been detected.
PDF296-833-600
Employee first aid and communicable disease reporting.
Your responsibility:
To guard the general health of your employees by providing first-aid facilities and reporting communicable diseases.
You must meet the requirements… | in this section: |
Provide first-aid facilities | WAC 296-833-60005 |
Report communicable diseases | WAC 296-833-60010 |
PDF296-833-60005
Provide first-aid facilities.
(1) You must provide and maintain adequate first-aid facilities; and
(2) You must make sure a person trained in first aid is in charge of the first-aid facilities.
Reference:
See WAC 296-800-150, First aid, in the core rules book for requirements for first-aid training and supplies.
PDF296-833-60010
Report communicable diseases.
You must immediately report to the local health officer:
(1) The name and address of any individual in the camp known to or suspected of having a communicable disease listed in the department of health's list of notifiable conditions, chapter 246-101 WAC;
(2) Any suspected food poisoning; and
(3) Any unusual occurrence of:
(a) Fever;
(b) Diarrhea;
(c) Sore throat;
(d) Vomiting;
(e) Jaundice.