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Asbestos Standard for the Construction Industry

Background:

Asbestos is the generic term for a group of naturally occurring, fibrous minerals with high tensile strength, flexibility, and resistance to thermal, chemical, and electrical conditions.

In the construction industry, asbestos is found in installed products such as shingles, floor tiles, cement pipe and sheet, roofing felts, insulation, ceiling tiles, fire-resistant drywall, and acoustical products. Very few asbestos-containing products are being installed.

Consequently, most worker exposures occur during the removal of asbestos and the renovation and maintenance of buildings and structures containing asbestos. Asbestos fibers enter the body by inhalation or ingestion of air-borne particles that become embedded in the tissues of the respiratory or digestive systems. Exposure to asbestos can cause disabling or fatal diseases such as asbestosis, an emphysema-like condition; lung cancer; mesothelioma, a cancerous tumor that spreads rapidly in the cells of membranes covering the lungs and body organs; and gastrointestinal cancer. The symptoms of these diseases generally do not appear for 20 years or more after exposure.

OSHA began regulating workplace asbestos exposure in 1970, adopting a permissible exposure limit (PEL) to regulate worker exposures. Over the years, more information on the adverse health effects of asbestos exposure has become available, prompting the agency to revise the asbestos standard several times to better protect workers. In 1994, OSHA issued a revised final standard regulating asbestos exposure in all industries. The revised standard for the construction industry lowers the PEL from 0.2 fibers per cubic centimeter (f/cc) of air to 0.1 f/cc.

Approximately 3.2 million workers in new construction, building renovation, and maintenance and custodial workers in buildings and industrial facilities are affected by the new standard. OSHA estimates that at least 42 cancer deaths per year will be avoided in all industries, in addition to lives saved by earlier OSHA standards.

(a) Scope and application. This section regulates asbestos exposure in all work as defined in 29 CFR 1910.12(b), including but not limited to the following:

(1) Demolition or salvage of structures where asbestos is present;

(2) Removal or encapsulation of materials containing asbestos;

(3) Construction, alteration, repair, maintenance, or renovation of structures, substrates, or portions thereof, that contain asbestos;

(4) Installation of products containing asbestos;

(5) Asbestos spill/emergency cleanup; and

(6) Transportation, disposal, storage, or containment of and housekeeping activities involving asbestos or products containing asbestos, on the site or location at which construction activities are performed.

(7) Coverage under this standard shall be based on the nature of the work operation involving asbestos exposure.

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