Overview
Employers must be aware of workplace hazards facing their workers and must take appropriate action to minimize or eliminate exposure to these hazards. The interim OSHA standard aims to reduce the exposure to lead for construction workers. The most significant way to achieve this was by lowering the permissible exposure limit (PEL) of lead from 200 micrograms per cubic meter of air as an 8-hour time weighted average (TWA) to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
This course will review the new interim OSHA standards for lead exposure during construction activities. For the purpose of this standard, lead includes metallic lead, all inorganic lead compounds, and organic lead soaps. OSHA’s lead in construction standard applies to all construction work where an employee may be occupationally exposed to lead. All work related to construction, alteration, or repair, including painting and decorating, is included.
Lead is a cumulative and toxic substance. People who swallow or inhale lead compounds may become ill or die from lead poisoning. Although lead is eliminated from the body at a slow rate, inhaling even a small amount of a lead compound over an extended period of time may cause lead poisoning. Immediate symptoms of disease may not be noticeable. As the blood is circulated through the body, lead is stored in various organs and body tissues. The lead stored in the body may be slowly causing irreversible damage: first to the cells, then to the organs, and finally to the whole body system.
Engineering controls reduce employee exposure in the workplace either by removing or isolating the hazard or isolating the worker from exposure through the use of technology. Under the lead in construction standard, mechanical ventilation may be used to control lead exposure. If used, the employer must evaluate, as necessary, the mechanical performance of the system in controlling exposure to maintain its effectiveness.
Note:
The use of lead-based paint in residential application has been banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. However, since lead-based paint inhibits the rusting and corrosion of iron and steel, it is still used on bridges, railways, ships, lighthouses, and other steel structures, although substitute coatings are available.
The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of twenty (20) questions at the end of the course to obtain PDH credits.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Safe work practices
- Review interior surface preparation
- Selection of correct respiration equipment
- Review of HEPA filter-equipped vacuum cleaners
- Review allowable blood levels of lead
- Review allowable concentrations of lead in the air
- Engineering Controls
- Work Practice Controls
Course
Click on the following link to the PDF document to review the course material before taking the quiz for credit.
A Guide to Lead Exposure in the Construction Industry
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