Section 1550.60  Drivers, Operation, Employees' Duties

a)         Only authorized, experienced, competent, qualified and licensed drivers, not less than 18 years of age, shall be permitted to operate vehicles used to transport employees.

b)         When the driver's compartment is separate from the compartment used to transport employees, the signals adopted for use on the communication system shall be simple and understood by both driver and employees.

c)         No vehicles shall be loaded beyond its safe carrying capacity, or beyond its licensed capacity when in use on public streets or highways.  No motor vehicle shall be driven if it is so loaded, or if the load thereon is so distributed or so inadequately secured as to prevent safe operation.

d)         No motor vehicle shall be driven when anything in, on or attached to the vehicle obscures the driver's view ahead or to either side, or interferes with the free movement of his arms or legs, or prevents his free and ready access to his controls and emergency equipment, or prevents the free and ready exit of any person from the vehicle.

e)         All vehicles transporting employees shall observe all Motor Vehicle Laws of this state.

f)         No explosives (except flagging equipment) shall be hauled on any vehicle while it is engaged in transporting employees.  This rule shall not prohibit the driver and one qualified powder man from riding in a vehicle in which explosives are being hauled.

g)         Gasoline and other low flash point liquids shall not be hauled in vehicles transporting employees except when in Underwriters Laboratory approved safety containers or in containers meeting with the current specifications of the Interstate Commerce Commission or its successor.  Such containers shall be carried in a safe, suitable location outside the passenger compartment as far from the compartment as possible and where they will not block exit from the vehicle, firmly secured to prevent shifting.

h)         Occupants shall not ride with any part of their bodies extending out over the side of the vehicle.

i)          Employees wearing equipment which might injure a fellow employee (spurs, exposed sharp tools, and the like) shall remove such equipment before entering any vehicle in which employees are being transported.

j)          Scuffling or horseplay while riding in any vehicle is prohibited.

k)         Any hazardous condition or defect of a motor vehicle or unsafe practice of the driver or employees riding in vehicles used to transport employees shall be reported in writing to the employer or supervisor as soon as possible by any employee having knowledge of such conditions.