Lead Safety for Construction Workers

Where lead shows up, and what it does

The lead rule covers all construction work where you may be exposed to lead on the job, including painting and decorating. Examples include:

• Demolition or salvage of structures where lead is present
• Removal or encapsulation of materials containing lead
• New construction, alteration, repair or renovation of structures that contain lead
• Installation of products containing lead
• Lead contamination/emergency cleanup
• Transportation, disposal, storage or containment of lead on the construction site
• Maintenance operations associated with these construction activities

Health effects

Your training must address at least these lead hazards:

Two numbers to know

• Action level: 30 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air, as an 8-hour average, measured without regard to respirators.
• Permissible exposure limit (PEL): 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour period. Your employer must keep you at or below it. If you are exposed to lead for more than 8 hours in any work day, your allowable exposure for that day is reduced: 400 divided by the hours worked in the day, in micrograms per cubic meter.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.62(a) · 29 CFR 1926.62(a)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.62(a)(2) · 29 CFR 1926.62(a)(3) · 29 CFR 1926.62(a)(4) · 29 CFR 1926.62(l)(1)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(b) "Action level" · 29 CFR 1926.62(c)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.62(c)(2) · 29 CFR 1926.62(a)(5)-(7)

Trigger tasks and interim protection

Some tasks are so likely to create lead exposure that, where lead is present, your employer must treat you as overexposed until an exposure assessment documents otherwise. The rule groups them by how high the assumed exposure is:

Other tasks are also treated as above the PEL where there is any reason to believe the worker may be exposed above it.

Interim protection you must get

Until your actual exposure is determined, your employer must provide for these tasks:

• Appropriate respiratory protection
• Appropriate protective clothing and equipment
• Change areas
• Hand washing facilities
• Blood testing for lead and zinc protoporphyrin
• Training on hazard communication, on respirator use, and in accordance with 29 CFR 1926.21, Safety training and education

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(i)(A) · 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(i)(B) · 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(iii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(iv) · 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(v) · 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(2)(v)(A)-(F)

When you wear a respirator, and which one

Your employer provides an appropriate respirator. Respirators must be used during:

• Periods when your exposure to lead exceeds the PEL
• Work where engineering and work-practice controls are not enough to get exposure to or below the PEL
• Periods when you request a respirator
• The interim protection period for trigger tasks

Selection

• Your employer selects and provides the appropriate respirators specified in 29 CFR 1910.134(d)(3)(i)(A).
• Air-purifying respirators (powered and non-powered) get HEPA filters.
• A full facepiece instead of a half mask is provided for lead aerosols that may cause eye or skin irritation at the use concentrations.
• If you choose a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) and it gives adequate protection, your employer must provide it.

If you have breathing difficulty during fit testing or while wearing a respirator, your employer must provide a medical examination to determine whether you can use one.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(1)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(1)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(1)(iii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(1)(iv) · 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(3)(i)(B) · 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(3)(i)(C) · 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(3)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(2)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(f)(3)(i)(A)

Protective clothing

Where required (including during interim protection), your employer provides protective work clothing and equipment at no cost to you and makes sure you use it, such as:

• Coveralls or similar full-body work clothing
• Gloves, hats, and shoes or disposable shoe coverlets
• Face shields, vented goggles or other appropriate eye and face protection

Keep the lead at work

• Take protective clothing off at the end of the shift only in the change area.
• Dirty clothing to be cleaned, laundered or thrown away goes in a closed container in the change area.
• Do not remove lead from clothing by blowing or shaking it, or any other way that puts lead in the air.
• Do not leave the workplace wearing protective clothing or equipment required during the shift.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.62(g)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.62(g)(1)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(g)(1)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(g)(1)(iii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(g)(2)(iv) · 29 CFR 1926.62(g)(2)(v) · 29 CFR 1926.62(g)(2)(viii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(i)(2)(iii)

Clean up without raising lead dust

• Keep all surfaces as free as practicable of lead build-up.
• Clean floors and other surfaces by vacuuming or other methods that minimize lead becoming airborne, wherever possible.
• Vacuums must have HEPA filters and be used and emptied in a way that minimizes lead getting back into the workplace.
• Shoveling, dry or wet sweeping, and brushing may be used only where vacuuming or other equally effective methods have been tried and found not to be effective.
• Compressed air may not be used to remove lead from any surface unless it is used with a ventilation system designed to capture the dust it creates.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.62(h)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.62(h)(2) · 29 CFR 1926.62(h)(3) · 29 CFR 1926.62(h)(4) · 29 CFR 1926.62(h)(5)

Eat, wash and change the right way

• In areas where exposure is above the PEL, no food or drink is present or consumed, no tobacco products are present or used, and no cosmetics are applied.
• If your exposure is above the PEL, wash your hands and face before eating, drinking, smoking or applying cosmetics.
• Do not enter the lunch or eating area in protective clothing unless surface lead dust has been removed by vacuuming, a downdraft booth or another method that limits spreading the dust.
• Change areas have separate storage for work clothing and street clothes, so they do not cross-contaminate.
• Your employer must provide shower facilities, where feasible, for employees whose airborne exposure is above the PEL. Where showers are available, shower at the end of the shift. Where showers are not provided, wash your hands and face at the end of the shift.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.62(i)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.62(i)(2)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(i)(2)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(i)(3)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(i)(4)(iii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(i)(4)(iv) · 29 CFR 1926.62(i)(5)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(i)(3)(i)

Signs and monitoring results

The warning sign

In each work area where exposure is above the PEL, your employer posts this sign:

Your monitoring results

As soon as possible, but no later than 5 working days after receiving air monitoring results, your employer must tell you the results in writing or post them where you can see them. If the results are at or above the PEL, the notice must say so and describe the corrective action taken or to be taken.

Your employer must also make a copy of the lead standard and its appendices readily available to you.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.62(m)(1)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(8)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(d)(8)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(l)(3)(i)

Blood tests, exams and medical removal

• If you are exposed on any day at or above the action level, your employer must make initial medical surveillance available: a blood test for lead and zinc protoporphyrin.
• Required medical surveillance is provided without cost to you, at a reasonable time and place.
• Medical removal: if a periodic and a follow-up blood test both show a blood lead level at or above 50 µg/dl, your employer must remove you from work with exposure at or above the action level. You return to your former job status when two consecutive blood tests show a level below 40 µg/dl.
• While removed, you get up to 18 months of medical removal protection benefits each time: as long as your former job continues, your employer maintains your total normal earnings, seniority and other employment rights and benefits.
• Chelating agents (drugs that pull lead from the body) should not routinely be used to remove lead and should not be used at all except under the direction of a licensed physician.

Reference: 29 CFR 1926.62(j)(1)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(j)(1)(iv) · 29 CFR 1926.62(k)(1)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(k)(1)(iii)(A)(1) · 29 CFR 1926.62(k)(2)(i) · 29 CFR 1926.62(k)(2)(ii) · 29 CFR 1926.62(l)(2)(vii)