For workers and welders exposed to hexavalent chromium: know the limits and your exposure results, how exposure must be controlled, how to handle protective clothing and hygiene, and what medical surveillance you are entitled to.
Based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1026 (general industry) and 29 CFR 1926.1126 (construction), Chromium (VI) · about 7 min read
Need proof of training? The full course (25 min) adds practice questions, a job scenario, the final quiz and a certificate your employer can verify.
PEL: 5Permissible exposure limit: no more than 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air, as an 8-hour time-weighted average.
Action level: 2.52.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air, as an 8-hour time-weighted average. Reaching it triggers more requirements.
Your exposure is measured as the airborne level you would breathe if you were not wearing a respirator.
Monitoring and your results
Under the scheduled monitoring option, exposures at or above the action level are monitored at least every six months; exposures above the PEL, at least every three months.
You (or your designated representative) must get an opportunity to observe the monitoring.
You must be told your results in writing, or they must be posted where you can see them: within 15 work days in general industry, within 5 work days in construction.
If your exposure is above the PEL, the written notice must describe the corrective action being taken.
Your employer must use engineering and work practice controls, such as ventilation and safer work methods, to keep your exposure at or below the PEL, unless it can show they are not feasible. If those controls are not enough, they must still be used to get exposure as low as achievable, and respirators are added on top.
Do not rotate to beat the limit: your employer may not move workers between jobs to keep each person under the PEL.
Respirators are required during
Time needed to install or implement feasible controls
Work such as maintenance and repair where controls are not feasible
Work where all feasible controls are in place but exposure is still above the PEL
Work above the PEL on fewer than 30 days per year where the employer has chosen not to install controls for it (an exception the standards allow)
Emergencies, meaning any occurrence that results, or is likely to result, in an uncontrolled release of chromium (VI). An incidental release that employees in the immediate area, or maintenance personnel, can control at the time of release is not an emergency.
When respirators are required, you must be covered by a respiratory protection program under 29 CFR 1910.134.
Construction has the same rules in 29 CFR 1926.1126(e) and (f). General industry also has a special limit for aerospace painting in 1910.1026(f)(1)(ii).
In general industry, wherever exposure is, or can reasonably be expected to be, above the PEL, the employer must set up a regulated area. Its boundaries must be marked so that workers know where it starts.
Who may enter
People authorized by the employer and required by their work duties to be there
A designated employee representative observing monitoring
Anyone authorized by the OSH Act or its regulations to be there
Your part: if your duties do not take you into the marked area, stay out.
Where skin or eye contact with chromium (VI) is a hazard, your employer must provide protective clothing and equipment at no cost to you, and make sure you use it.
Take it off at the end of the shift or when you finish your chromium (VI) tasks, whichever comes first.
Leave it at work. Contaminated clothing does not leave the workplace, except with people whose job is to launder, clean, maintain or dispose of it.
No blowing or shaking dust off clothing or equipment, or any other method that puts chromium (VI) into the air or onto your body.
Keep street clothes separate. Change rooms must have separate storage for protective clothing and street clothes.
Construction: the same rules are in 29 CFR 1926.1126(g) and (h).
If chromium (VI) touched your skin, wash your hands and face at the end of the shift and before eating, drinking, smoking, chewing tobacco or gum, applying cosmetics, or using the toilet.
Do not eat, drink, smoke, chew tobacco or gum, or apply cosmetics where skin or eye contact with chromium (VI) occurs, or (general industry) in regulated areas. Do not carry or store those products there either.
Do not walk into eating areas in protective clothing unless the surface chromium (VI) has been removed by a method that does not spread it into the air or onto you.
Cleanup (general industry)
Clean contaminated surfaces with a HEPA-filter vacuum or another method that minimizes exposure.
Dry sweeping, shoveling or brushing only after HEPA vacuuming or other low-exposure methods were tried and did not work.
No compressed air on chromium (VI) unless a ventilation system captures the dust cloud, or no other method is feasible.
Contaminated waste and scrap go in sealed, impermeable bags or closed, impermeable containers.
Your employer must make medical surveillance available at no cost to you, at a reasonable time and place, if you:
Are or may be exposed at or above the action level for 30 or more days a year
Have signs or symptoms of health effects linked to chromium (VI)
Were exposed in an emergency
When exams happen
Within 30 days after initial assignment, unless you had a qualifying chromium (VI) exam in the last twelve months
Annually
Within 30 days after the health care professional's written medical opinion recommends an additional examination
Whenever you show signs or symptoms
Within 30 days after exposure in an emergency with an uncontrolled release
When your employment ends, unless your last qualifying exam was less than six months before
The exam includes a physical examination of your skin and respiratory tract. You get a copy of the health care professional's written opinion within two weeks after your employer receives it.
Your part (good practice): report skin problems, nose or breathing symptoms, and any spill or uncontrolled release to your supervisor right away.
Construction: the same rules are in 29 CFR 1926.1126(i).
Fact-checked against the regulation text on October 09, 2026. This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1026 and 29 CFR 1926.1126. It is not an OSHA card or license, and it does not by itself meet the training requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1026(l) or 29 CFR 1926.1126(j). Your employer must still include chromium (VI) in its hazard communication program, ensure that you are trained in accordance with the Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200), and ensure that you can demonstrate knowledge of the contents of the chromium (VI) standard and the purpose and a description of its medical surveillance program.
This guide explains the rule in plain words. Always read the regulation itself and your employer's site-specific procedures.