For employees exposed to lead in plants, foundries, battery and recycling operations and other general industry work: the PEL and action level, monitoring, controls, respirators, protective clothing, hygiene, blood lead testing, medical removal protection and training.
Based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1025 · about 6 min read
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PEL: no employee may be exposed above 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air (8-hour TWA). For shifts over 8 hours, the PEL is reduced by formula.
Action level:30 micrograms per cubic meter, measured without regard to respirators. Exposure at or above it triggers periodic monitoring and training, and medical surveillance for employees who are or may be exposed at or above it for more than 30 days per year.
The employer determines whether anyone may be exposed at or above the action level, using full-shift personal samples representative of each employee's regular daily exposure.
At or above the action level but below the PEL: monitor at least every 6 months. Above the PEL: monitor quarterly. Monitor again after changes that may increase exposure.
You are notified within 15 working days of the employer receiving results, including corrective action if the PEL was exceeded.
The employer has a written compliance program to reduce exposures to or below the PEL by engineering and work practice controls, updated at least annually.
Where ventilation is used, its effectiveness (capture velocity, duct velocity or static pressure) is measured at least every 3 months, and within 5 days of changes that might affect exposure.
Respirators must be used while controls are being installed or implemented, where controls are not sufficient to reduce exposure to or below the PEL, and whenever an employee requests one, under a respiratory protection program. An employee with breathing difficulty during fit testing or use gets a medical exam.
An employee entitled to a respirator may choose a PAPR instead of a negative pressure respirator, where it gives adequate protection.
Above the PEL (regardless of respirators), or where skin or eye irritation is possible, the employer provides protective clothing and equipment at no cost and makes sure it is used.
Clean, dry clothing is provided at least weekly, and daily for employees exposed over 200 micrograms per cubic meter without regard to a respirator.
Clothing is removed at the end of the shift only in the change room, and contaminated clothing goes into a closed container that keeps lead in.
Removing lead from clothing by blowing or shaking is prohibited.
Where exposure is above the PEL (without regard to respirators):
No food, drinks, tobacco or cosmetics in the work area, except in change rooms, lunchrooms and showers.
Change rooms have separate storage for work clothing and street clothes.
Shower at the end of the shift, and do not leave the workplace in any clothing or equipment worn during the shift.
Wash hands and face before eating, drinking, smoking or applying cosmetics.
Do not enter the lunchroom in protective clothing unless surface lead dust has been removed by vacuuming, a downdraft booth or another cleaning method.
Housekeeping: keep surfaces as free as practicable of lead. Where vacuuming is used, vacuums are used and emptied in a manner that minimizes the reentry of lead into the workplace.
Medical surveillance covers employees who are or may be exposed at or above the action level for more than 30 days per year, at no cost and at a reasonable time and place.
It includes blood lead and ZPP testing on a set schedule (more often when blood lead is elevated), medical exams, and the right to a second medical opinion.
When a blood lead result is at or above the removal level, a follow-up test within two weeks is provided.
Prophylactic chelation (the routine use of chelating or similarly acting drugs to prevent elevated blood lead levels, or to routinely lower blood lead to levels believed to be ‘safe’) is prohibited.
An employee is removed from work at or above the action level when a periodic and follow-up blood test show blood lead at or above 60 micrograms per 100 grams of whole blood, when the average of the last three blood tests (or of all tests over the previous six months, whichever is longer) is at or above 50 micrograms per 100 grams (unless the last test is below 40), or when a final medical determination finds a condition placing the employee at increased risk.
Removed employees get medical removal protection benefits for up to 18 months each time: the employer maintains their earnings, seniority and other rights and benefits as though they had not been removed.
Employees exposed at or above the action level, or with possible skin or eye irritation, are trained before initial job assignment and at least annually.
Training covers the content of the standard and its appendices; the specific operations that could cause exposure above the action level; the purpose, proper selection, fitting, use and limitations of respirators; the medical surveillance and medical removal protection programs, including the adverse health effects of excessive exposure to lead (with particular attention to reproductive effects on both males and females); the engineering controls and work practices for the employee's job; the contents of any compliance plan in effect; and instructions that chelating agents should not routinely be used to remove lead from the body and should not be used at all except under the direction of a licensed physician.
A copy of the standard and its appendices is readily available to all affected employees.
Fact-checked against the regulation text on October 09, 2026. This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1025. It is not an OSHA card or license, and it does not by itself meet the training requirements of 29 CFR 1910.1025(l). Your employer must still train each employee who is subject to exposure to lead at or above the action level, or for whom the possibility of skin or eye irritation exists, prior to the time of initial job assignment and at least annually, and inform each employee of the content of the standard and its appendices; the specific nature of the operations which could result in exposure to lead above the action level; the purpose, proper selection, fitting, use, and limitations of respirators; the medical surveillance and medical removal protection programs, including the adverse health effects of excessive exposure to lead; the engineering controls and work practices associated with the employee's job assignment; the contents of any compliance plan in effect; and instructions on chelating agents.
This guide explains the rule in plain words. Always read the regulation itself and your employer's site-specific procedures.