On October 6, 2026, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) filed a proposed rulemaking seeking to update Washington’s construction personal protective equipment (PPE) rules.

Quick Hits

• On October 6, 2026, Washington DOSH proposed updates to construction PPE rules to align with federal OSHA requirements, including requiring employers to ensure PPE properly fits each affected employee.
• The proposal also includes minor clarifications and housekeeping revisions, with public hearings in November 2026, comments due November 23, 2026, and intended adoption on March 2, 2027.

DOSH’s primary purpose for this proposed rulemaking is to bring Washington’s construction PPE requirements in line with the federal construction PPE requirements, which were updated by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and took effect January 2025.

The most significant proposed change to Washington’s existing construction PPE rule would require employers to “ensure that [the PPE] properly fits each affected employee.” Washington’s existing construction PPE rule does not include a requirement that the employer ensure that the PPE fits the affected employees. As the proposed rulemaking describes, federal OSHA similarly revised the federal construction PPE requirement in January 2025 to require employers to ensure that PPE properly fits each affected employee.

Notably, the proposed rule does not...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihwFBVV95cUxQbHlxby1vM3oyZFFkeGVhQWVK...