Worker Safety

Current worker safety standards were established by OSHA's 29 CFR Part 1926, Lead Exposure in Construction; Interim Final Rule, which became effective June 3, 1993. These standards base levels of worker protection on exposure to airborne lead dust. They are primarily targeted to persons working within the construction industry, but apply to any workers who are exposed to lead dust for longer than a specific amount of time and duration. The Interim Final Rule establishes an action level of 30 micrograms of lead dust per cubic meter of air (30 ug/m3) based on an eight hour, time-weighted average, as the level at which employers must initiate compliance activities; and it also establishes 50 ug/m3 of lead dust as the permitted exposure level (PEL) for workers.

The standard identifies responsibilities before, during, and after the actual abatement activity necessary to protect the worker. Before the project begins, it requires an exposure assessment, a written compliance plan, initial medical surveillance, and training. The exposure assessment determines whether a worker may be exposed to lead. OSHA has identified a number of work tasks expected to produce dust levels between 50 and 500 ug/m3 of air, including manual demolition, manual scraping, manual sanding, heat gun applications, general cleanup, and power tool use when the power tool is equipped with a dust collection system. It is an OSHA requirement that, at a minimum, a HEPA filtered half-face respirator with a protection factor of 10 be used for these operations. Initial blood lead level (BLL) base lines are established for each worker. Actual dust levels are monitored by air sampling of representative work activities, generally by an industrial hygienist or an environmental monitoring firm. Protective equipment is determined by the dust level. For all workers exposed at, or above, the action level for over 30 days in a 12-month period, BLLs are tested on a regular basis of every 2 months for the first 6 months and every 6 months thereafter. After completing a project, maintenance, medical surveillance, and recordkeeping responsibilities continue.

HEPA vacuums, HEPA respirators, and HEPA filters, which substantially reduce exposure to lead dust, are available through laboratory safety and supply catalogs and vendors.

Copies of 29 CFR Part 1926, Lead Exposure in Construction: Interim Final Rule, are available from the Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or may be found in any library with a current edition of the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR).