Asbestos for construction activities

Scope

The asbestos standard for the construction industry regulates employees asbestos exposure for the following activities:

• Demolishing or salvaging structures where asbestos is present.
• Removing or encapsulating asbestos-containing material (ACM).
• Constructing, altering, repairing, maintaining, or renovating asbestos-containing structures or substrates.
• Installing asbestos-containing products.
• Cleaning up asbestos spills/emergencies.
• Transporting, disposing, storing, containing, and housekeeping involving asbestos or asbestos-containing products on a construction site.

Regulatory citations

• 29 CFR 1926.1101 — Asbestos.

Key definitions

• Asbestos: A group of minerals that includes chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite asbestos, anthophyllite asbestos, actinolite asbestos, and any of these minerals that have been chemically treated and/or altered.
• Asbestos-containing material (ACM): Any material containing more than 1% asbestos.
• Authorized person: Any person authorized by the employer and required by work duties to be present in regulated areas.
• Building/facility owner: The legal entity, including a lessee, which exercises control over management and record keeping functions relating to a building and/or facility in which activities covered by this standard take place.
• Certified industrial hygienist (CIH): One certified in the practice of industrial hygiene by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene.
• Employee exposure: Exposure to airborne asbestos that would occur if the employee were not using respiratory protective equipment.
• Fiber: A particulate form of asbestos 5 micrometers or longer, with a length-to-diameter ratio of at least 3 to 1.
• High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA): A filter capable of trapping and retaining at least 99.97 percent of 0.3 micrometer diameter mono-disperse particles.
• Homogeneous area: An area of surfacing material or thermal system insulation that is uniform in color and texture.
• Industrial hygienist: A professional qualified by education, training, and experience to anticipate, recognize, evaluate and develop controls for occupational health hazards.
• Presumed asbestos containing material (PACM): Thermal system insulation and surfacing material found in buildings constructed no later than 1980. The designation of a material as “PACM” may be rebutted pursuant to paragraph (j)(8) of this section.
• Regulated area: An area established by the employer to demarcate areas where airborne concentrations of asbestos exceed, or there is a reasonable possibility they may exceed, the permissible exposure limits.
• Surfacing ACM: Surfacing material which contains more than 1% asbestos.
• Surfacing material: Material that is sprayed, troweled-on or otherwise applied to surfaces (such as acoustical plaster on ceilings and fireproofing materials on structural members, or other materials on surfaces for acoustical, fireproofing, and other purposes).
• Thermal System Insulation (TSI): ACM applied to pipes, fittings, boilers, breeching, tanks, ducts or other structural components to prevent heat loss or gain.
• Thermal System Insulation ACM: Thermal system insulation which contains more than 1% asbestos.

Summary of requirements

Employers must:

• Observe the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for asbestos, which is 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter of air as an eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA), with an excursion limit (EL) of 1.0 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter over a 30-minute period. The employer must ensure that no one is exposed above these limits.
• Assess the workplace to determine if asbestos is present and if the work will generate airborne fibers by a specific method under each standard.
• Designate a competent person On all construction sites with asbestos operations, employers must designate a competent person — one who can identify asbestos hazards in the workplace and has the authority to correct them. This person must be qualified and authorized to ensure worker safety and health as required by Subpart C, General Safety and Health Provisions for Construction (1926.20). Under these requirements for safety and health prevention programs, the competent person must frequently inspect job sites, materials, and equipment.
• Monitor as necessary to detect if asbestos exposure is at or above the PEL or EL for workers who are, or may be expected to be exposed to asbestos. Frequency depends on work classification and exposure. The construction and shipyard standards require assessment and monitoring by a competent person. If the exposure has the potential to be above the PEL or EL, employers must use proper engineering controls and work practices to the extent feasible to keep it at or below the PEL and EL. Where feasible engineering controls and work practices do not ensure worker protection at the exposure limits, employers must reduce the exposures to the lowest level achievable and then supplement with proper respiratory protection to meet the PEL. The construction and shipyard standards contain specific control methods depending on work classification, and the general industry standard has specific controls for brake and clutch repair work.
• Use proper hazard communication and demarcation with warning signs containing specified language in areas that have exposures above the PEL or EL is necessary. No smoking, eating, or drinking should occur in these areas and proper PPE must be provided and used to prevent exposure. Separate decontamination and lunch areas with proper hygiene practices must be provided to workers exposed above the PEL to avoid contamination.
• Train workers. Training requirements depend on the workplace exposure and classification. Training must be provided to all workers exposed at or above the PEL before work begins and yearly thereafter. All training must be conducted in a manner and language in which the worker is able to understand. Workers who perform housekeeping operations in buildings with presumed asbestos-containing materials but not at the PEL must also be provided asbestos awareness training. Medical surveillance requirements are different depending on the industry.
• Provide medical surveillance for workers who engage in certain classifications of work, or experience exposures at or above the PEL in construction and shipyards. In general industry, medical examinations must be provided for workers who experience exposure at or above the PEL.
• Keep records on exposure monitoring for asbestos for at least 30 years, and worker medical surveillance records for the duration of employment plus 30 years. Training records must be kept for at least 1 year beyond the last date of employment.