Background: A limited authority law enforcement agency is any agency, political subdivision, or unit of local government of Washington, and any agency, department, or division of state government, having as one of its functions the apprehension or detection of persons committing infractions or violating the traffic or criminal laws relating to limited subject areas. Examples of limited authority law enforcement agencies include the Department of Natural Resources, the Gambling Commission, and the Utilities and Transportation Commission.
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The Department of Labor and Industries is tasked, in part, with exercising all powers and performing all duties prescribed by law in relation to:
- the inspection of factories, mills, workshops, storehouses, warerooms, stores and buildings, and the machinery and apparatus therein, and steam vessels, and other vessels operated by machinery;
- the administration and enforcement of all laws and safety standards providing for the protection of employees in mills, factories, workshops, and in employment subject to the provisions of the Industrial Insurance Act;
- the enforcement, inspection, certification, and promulgation of safe places and safety device standards in all industries, excluding railroads;
- 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; and
- 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.