Ruling says just keeping expired protective gear on site can trigger penalties
A Washington appeals court ruled that employers can be penalized for keeping expired safety equipment at a worksite, even if no worker actually used it.
The Court of Appeals of Washington, Division III, issued its decision on April 21, 2026, in a case that could reshape how employers think about safety equipment compliance. The ruling makes clear that simply having non-compliant protective gear available to workers is enough to trigger a violation under state law.
The case dates back to September 2, 2021, when a state safety officer spotted Cache Valley Electric Company employees working on overhead power lines. One worker was running a gas-powered chainsaw that came within 12 inches of an exposed line carrying 7,200 volts – far closer than the legally required 27-inch minimum approach distance. The employees admitted they knew they were violating the rule.
That alone would have been enough to draw a citation. But the inspection turned up a second problem. When the safety officer asked the crew to pull out all the protective gear stored on the company's boom truck, five rubber insulating blankets were produced. These blankets are required to be tested every six months. The last test date was October 12, 2020 – 11 months earlier. Some of the blankets showed visible wear.
The state issued two citations. The first, for the chainsaw violation, carried a $7,000 penalty. The second, for the expired...
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