Information,Training & Communicating Hazards to Employees | ASBESTOS

Communicating Hazards to Employees

Employers and building owners are required to treat installed thermal system insulation (TSI) and sprayed on and troweled-on surfacing materials as asbestos containing material (ACM). Treat asphalt and vinyl flooring material installed no later than 1980 as asbestos-containing.

Employers and building and facility owners must exercise due diligence in complying with requirements to inform employers and employees about the presence and location of ACM and presumed asbestos containing material (PACM).

Building Owner Responsibilities

Building and facility owners have to maintain records of all information required concerning the presence, location and quantity of ACM and PACM in the building/facility. Such records need to be kept for the duration of ownership and must be transferred to successive owners.

Building and facility owners have to inform employers of employees with potential exposure risks. Those employers must inform their employees who will perform housekeeping activities in areas which contain ACM and/or PACM of the presence and location of ACM and PACM in these areas. Identification of ACM and PACM should be made by industrial hygienists, or by persons whose skill and experience in identifying asbestos hazards is the equivalent to that of industrial hygienists.

Information and Training

All employees who are exposed to airborne concentrations of asbestos at or above the action level must be properly trained about asbestos hazards. Training has to be provided prior to or at the time of initial assignment, and at least yearly thereafter.

Training Program Elements

An effective training program must provide employees with information about the health hazards of asbestos exposures and include the following elements:

• Relationship between asbestos and smoking in producing lung cancer;
• Operations which could result in asbestos exposure;
• Engineering controls and appropriate work practices associated with the employee's job assignment;
• Purpose, proper use, and limitations of respirators and protective clothing;
• Medical surveillance program;
• Emergency and clean-up procedures;
• Names, addresses, and phone numbers of public health organizations which provide information, materials, and/or conduct programs concerning smoking cessation; and
• A review of the procedures contained in OSHA's asbestos standard at §1910.1001.

All training materials must be available to the employee without cost and, upon request, to OSHA and NIOSH representatives.