RCW 43.22.050: Powers and duties.

The director of labor and industries shall: (1) Exercise all the powers and perform all the duties prescribed by law in relation to the inspection of factories, mills, workshops, storehouses, warerooms, stores and buildings, and the machinery and apparatus therein contained, and steam vessels, and other vessels operated by machinery, and in relation to the administration and enforcement of all laws and safety standards providing for the protection of employees in mills, factories, workshops, and in employments subject to the provisions of Title 51 RCW, and in relation to the enforcement, inspection, certification, and promulgation of safe places and safety device standards in all industries: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, This section shall not apply to railroads; (2) Exercise all the powers and perform all the duties prescribed by law in relation to the inspection of tracks, bridges, structures, machinery, equipment, and apparatus of street railways, gas plants, electrical plants, water systems, telephone lines, telegraph lines, and other public utilities, with respect to the safety of employees, and the administration and enforcement of all laws providing for the protection of employees of street railways, gas plants, electrical plants, water systems, telephone lines, telegraph lines, and other public utilities; (3) Exercise all the powers and perform all the duties prescribed by law in relation to the enforcement, amendment, alteration, change, and making additions to, rules and regulations concerning the operation, placing, erection, maintenance, and use of electrical apparatus, and the construction thereof.