Protecting Workers From Asbestos
However, repair, renovation, and demolition operations often generate airborne
asbestos, a mineral fiber that can cause chronic lung disease or cancer. The
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has developed regulations
designed to protect cleanup workers from asbestos hazards.
OSHA’s Standards for Asbestos
The work of flood cleanup personnel
involves the repair, renovation, removal,
demolition, or salvage of flood-damaged
structures and materials. Such materials may
contain or be covered with asbestos, and
cleanup personnel are protected by OSHA’s
construction industry asbestos standard
(Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR),
Part 1926.1101). This standard requires
employers to follow various procedures to
protect their employees from inhaling
asbestos fibers. The standard contains many
requirements that vary depending on the
kind of work being undertaken, the amount
of asbestos in the air, and other factors.
How You Can Become Exposed to
Asbestos
Before it was known that inhalation of
asbestos fibers causes several deadly diseases—
including asbestosis, a progressive
and often fatal lung disease, and lung and
other cancers—asbestos was used in a large
number of building materials and other products
because of its strength, flame resistance,
and insulating properties. Asbestos was used
in asbestos-cement pipe and sheeting, floor
and roofing felts, dry wall, floor tiles, spray
on ceiling coatings, and packing materials.
When buildings containing these materials
are renovated or torn down, or when the
asbestos-containing materials themselves
are disturbed, minute asbestos fibers may be
released into the air. The fibers are so small
that they often cannot be seen with the
naked eye; the fact that you can inhale these
fibers without knowing it makes asbestos an
even more dangerous hazard.
Major Elements of OSHA’s Asbestos
Standard
The following include some of the major
requirements of the asbestos standard. For
complete information on all requirements,
see 29 CFR 1926.1101.
• A permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 0.1
fiber of asbestos per cubic centimeter of air
as averaged over an 8-hour period, with an
excursion limit of 1.0 asbestos fibers per
cubic centimeter over a 30-minute period.
• Requirements for an initial exposure assessment
to ascertain expected exposures during
that work operation, and periodic exposure
monitoring in certain instances.
• Use of engineering controls, to the extent
feasible, to meet the PEL. Where this is not
possible, engineering controls must be
used to reduce exposures to the lowest levels
possible and then supplemented by the
use of appropriate respiratory protection.
• Use of regulated areas to limit access to
locations where asbestos concentrations
may be dangerously high.
• No smoking, eating, or drinking in asbestosregulated
areas.
• Requirements for warning signs and caution
labels to identify and communicate the
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