4123:1-11-01. Scope and definitions

(A) Scope.

The purpose of these safety requirements is to provide reasonable safety for life, limb and health of employees. In cases of practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship, the Ohio bureau of workers' compensation may grant exceptions from the literal provisions of these requirements or permit the use of other devices or methods when, in the opinion of the superintendent of the division of safety and hygiene, equivalent protection is thereby secured.

These specific requirements supplement Chapter 4123:1-5 of the Administrative Code, "Specific Safety Requirements of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation Relating to All Workshops and Factories," and are minimum requirements of an employer for the protection of such employer's employees and no others and apply to places of employment wherein laundering or drycleaning processes are performed.

Installations or constructions built or contracted for prior to the effective date of any requirement shall be deemed to comply with the provisions of these requirements if such installations or constructions comply either with the provisions of these requirements or with the provisions of any applicable specific requirement which was in effect at the time contracted for or built.

(B) Definitions.

(1) "Air contaminants," as used in this rule, means hazardous concentrations of fibrosis-producing toxic dusts, toxic fumes, toxic mists, toxic vapors, or toxic gases, or a combination of these, suspended in the atmosphere.

(2) "Approved" means accepted or certified by a nationally recognized testing agency, such as "Underwriters' Laboratories," "Factory Mutual Engineering Corporation," or a responsible governmental agency.

(3) "Centrifugal extractor" means a machine used for removing moisture from textile articles by centrifugal action.

(4) "Drycleaning" means the process of removing dirt, grease, paints, and other stains from such items as wearing apparel, textiles, fabrics, and rugs by the use of nonaqueous liquids (solvents, nonwater based).

(5) "Drying box or cabinet" means a heated, stationary enclosure used for drying, smoothing, or finishing textile articles.

(6) "Flammable liquid" means a liquid having a closed cup flashpoint below one hundred degrees Fahrenheit ( thirty-eight degrees Celsius) Flammable liquids are further categorized into a group known as class I liquids. The class I category is subdivided as follows:

(a) "Class IA" are liquids having a flashpoint below seventy-three degrees Fahrenheit ( twenty-three degrees Celsius) and having a boiling point below one hundred degrees Fahrenheit ( thirty-eight degrees Celsius.)

(b) "Class IB" are liquids having a flashpoint below seventy-three degrees Fahrenheit ( twenty-three degrees Celsius) and having a boiling point at or above one hundred degrees Fahrenheit ( thirty-eight degrees Celsius.)

(c) "Class IC" are liquids having a flashpoint at or above seventy-three degrees Fahrenheit ( twenty-three degrees Celsius) and below one hundred degrees Fahrenheit ( thirty-eight degrees Celsius.)

(7) "Guard" means the covering, fencing, railing, or enclosure which shields an object from accidental contact.

(8) "Guarded" means that the object is covered, fenced, railed, enclosed or otherwise shielded from accidental contact.

(9) "Ironer" means a machine with one or more rolls or heated surfaces used for drying, ironing, or smoothing textile articles.

(10) "Laundry press" or "drycleaning press" means a machine on which textile articles are dried or finished between two surfaces pressed together.

(11) "Nonflammable liquid" means any liquid or mixture of liquids which in its original state, or after continued use or agitation, or by distillation, will not burn in a closed cup tester, or which in any state, when mixed with air, gives off vapors which are noncombustible or nonexplosive.

(12) "Operator" means any employee assigned or authorized to work at the specific equipment.

(13) "Puff iron" means a heated device for smoothing or shaping textile articles.

(14) "Shall" is to be construed as mandatory.

(15) "Squeeze extractor" means any mechanically, pneumatically, or hydraulically operated compacting machine for removing excess liquid from textile articles by squeezing.

(16) "Still" means an appliance that receives contaminated flammable or combustible liquids or vapors and which distills the contents to remove contaminants and recover the solvents in the drycleaning process.

(17) "Substantial" means construction or such strength, of such materials, and of such workmanship that the object will withstand the wear, usage or shock for which it is designed.

(18) "Tumbler" means a machine in which textile articles are shaken out or dried by tumbling within a rotating cylinder.

(19) "Washer/extractor" means any machine in which the washing and extraction operations are performed.

(20) "Wringer" means one or more power-driven rolls used for removing excess liquid.

Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 1/6/2020 and 01/01/2025
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 4121.12, 4121.121, 4121.13, Const. Art. II, Section 35
Rule Amplifies: 4121.13
Prior Effective Dates: 04/01/1964, 09/01/1981, 11/01/2003, 12/01/2004, 03/15/2010, 10/12/2014

Prior History: (Effective: 10/12/2014
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 07/24/2014 and 10/01/2019
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 4121.12, 4121.121, 4121.13, Const. Art. II, Section 35
Rule Amplifies: 4121.13
Prior Effective Dates: 4/1/64, 9/1/81, 11/1/03, 12/1/04, 3/15/10)