Building Survey


Industrial hygiene (aka occupational hygiene) focuses on occupational-related diseases due to many reasons.home fireplace

Have you considered, at your home, maybe even as you sleep, you might be exposed to something hazardous? Below are seven possible hazards in your home (related to IH):

  1. Radon. It comes from the ground and they say it causes cancer* (*some people question this toxicological data). You must perform a test to know if you have hazardous levels.
  2. Formaldehyde. If you have a newer house you have 2 things going against you: 1. your house is tightly built (no air leaks and limited fresh air) and 2. more particle board (recycled wood) was used in construction. Also, many furniture contains multidensity fiber wood (MDF) which off gas formaldehyde. Again test for it to know if you have dangerous levels.
  3. Lead. Is your house built prior to 1978? It probably has leaded paint. Any remodeling might distrupt it and you can expose your kids to lead.
  4. Isocyantes. (HDI, TDI, MDI, and others) Can cause asthma & respiratory issues. If your house was insulated with spray foam (polyurethane type) it needs to off-gas for awhile before you move right in.
  5. Asbestos. Causes cancer when airborne. If your house was built prior to 1980, you might have asbestos in your pipe insulation, popcorn ceiling, etc. Be sure and have it checked prior to remodeling.
  6. Mold. Respiratory diseases.
  7. Cleaning products. The symptoms can vary depending on the type of chemicals in the product. Use the recommended gloves, eye protection and respirator, if necessary, while cleaning with chemicals.

Do not be overly concerned about any one thing. Simply test and make any necessary adjustments. However, do keep in mind that most health recommendations for substances relate to normal working adults who go home to a non-hazardous place. There can be issues if you are either: not considered in the general population of healthy workers and, you go home to a place that isn’t free of additional hazards.

Yep. Polychlorobiphenyls (PCB) are found in caulking. Typically buildings before 1979 have this caulk. (EPA Facts about PCB in Caulk) The only way to know is to test. BUT, wait!

Either:

  • Assume you have it and renovate with caution. Or,
  • Have the air tested for PCBs in the air.

Do not have a bulk sample taken. You should ask for an exposure assessment to be performed (air monitoring) by a qualified industrial hygienist. The reason is two-fold.

  1. The potential for the hazard is airborne. In most instances, people aren’t getting exposure from any other method.
  2. By measuring the air, you account for any other sources of PCBs (paint, ballasts, oils, ceiling tiles).

Most of this caulk is found in outdoor uses (high grade) in older buildings up to around 1980-ish. If an airborne exposure assessment finds levels below the acceptable rules & recommendations (depends on age & location), you may continue with your project. Of course, you would take appropriate precautions, like these recommendations from the EPA. They also have a very nice flow chart. Just like a choose-your-adventure book, make sure you don’t fall into the “Abatement” box!

EPA PCB Caulk flow chart

It’s always fun to hear about new/different situations especially when the contractor handles it properly.

Vermiculite

During the start of a demolition on a 1989 structure, the first swing of the hammer produced a pile of vermiculite sand.

 

 

 

After some discussion on “what in the world is this doing inside a wall cavity“. The contractor stopped work, had an asbestos test performed and quarantined the area. The bulk sampling for asbestos came back with the report of “asbestos containing, but less than 1%“. Well, as you know (and as I have mentioned earlier) it may not be safe to treat this product like every other demolition project. In this case, the asbestos was very friable and by opening the wall cavity, it had definitely been disturbed.  The contractor quickly set up some procedures. Here they are:

  • Stop work in area. Quarantine area and place warning on doors.
  • Train employees & subcontractors onsite to hazard (asbestos).
  • Abatement contractor will remove wall & vermiculite
  • Abatement contractor will treat the material as if it is asbestos containing
  • Once the area is abated. An aggressive clearance test will be performed to assure no airborne levels of asbestos are present.

But why in the world was it in there in the first place? The best guess is it was added as a sound proofing / noise dampening for a air conditioning unit (actually a liebert unit) located on the adjacent wall. No other wall cavities contained the material.

If you have a building built pre 1985 (I know this date can be different, but I’m playing it safe) before bidding a project you need to have an asbestos survey performed, called a building inspection.danger asbestos Honestly, they usually aren’t done before bidding. SOMETIMES, they’re performed before starting the work (not good).

How do you find a good building inspector? …Google?, Yellow pages (who does that anymore?) Abatement contractor?

Whomever you hire, make sure they have a current AHERA Building Inspector Certificate. This is a Federal program maintained by TSCA Title II EPA AHERA/ASHARA Model Accreditation Program. This is your only recourse if something goes wrong. It doesn’t matter if have have a PhD, CIH, ROH, CSP and MBA, they MUST have a current AHERA Building Inspector Certificate.

Here are some things to consider:

  • Does the Building Inspector have a current certificate?
  • Will they sample for asbestos?
  • Which lab will they use for analysis? Their own? (not always a bad thing)
  • Which areas are they unable to access in the building?
  • Will they check for leaded paint?
  • Will they take pictures?
  • How long till you will get the results & report?
  • Will they write a report?
  • Are they capable of performing air monitoring? (worth asking, but not a deal-breaker)
  • Will they look back at previous records / management plans?
  • Cost?

Good luck in your search. As most things, a good referral from a friend is probably a great starting spot.

Occasionally (actually, far too often), I hear from a subcontractor who was told by the General Contractor (or owner) there is no asbestos onsite. Then, after they have been working for a month they find out it actually IS asbestos, and they were disturbing it. What do you do?

The first thing to do is stop work. Do not try to clean it up. Call an abatement contractor. They will identify the asbestos onsite, clean it up, and provide an airborne clearance test.

Next, you will need to provide awareness training (or better, let the abatement company provide it). Ideally this will occur on the day you start back working. Train everyone onsite about asbestos.

Finally, you (as the safety manager), need to identify and characterize the exposure to the employees. It should probably be a formal letter written to the owner, general contractor and employees.

Here are some tips on writing the letter:

  • include employee names, work hours, type of work, PPE worn, and locations they were working
  • describe the asbestos. Amount found, locations, type, estimated amount disturbed.
  • describe remedy process and steps taken. Names of GC, owner, abatement company, airborne levels found. Who was trained afterwards.
  • describe how things will change in the future. Here’s a tip:  any building before 1985 WILL have a building survey performed for asbestos….in writing.

Really, one exposure to asbestos is probably* not enough to contract a disease (asbestosis, or mesothelioma). It will take 15-30 years for symptoms to appear. But, it might be worth the “goodwill” to send affected employees into a occupational health doctor for a check up. The physician will reassure the employee and may provide some comfort.

*asbestos is a carcinogen. Greater exposure = greater chance of cancer. no amount is safe.

January is Radon awareness month. I posted this same topic last year.

As a reminder, if you have not measured the radon in your home, do it. Winter is the perfect time (since there is less airflow with the house buttoned up- and you’ll get a worst-case reading).

If your neighbor said he took readings and they came back fine, it doesn’t necessarily mean your home is ok. Check it!

Also, if your kids stay at a daycare, grandparents, or other place for a long period of the day/evening…you might also check the levels there.

By definition, “if you work around, or near asbestos”.  Which leads to:

When do I work around it?

  • Answer: Buildings build before 1985 (some say 1980) might have it.

How do I know if I’m working around it?

  • Answer: Any structure build before 1985 must have an asbestos building survey performed and the contractor have a copy of it on hand. (and while the inspector is onsite they might as well check for lead (Pb)).

So what type of training do I need?

  • Answer: It depends. Either Class III or Class IV Training is required by OSHA (see earlier post).

We subcontract any asbestos work, and typically it’s already abated before we arrive onsite. Do we still need training?

  • Answer: Yes. OSHA does not define any training shorter (less involved) than Class IV (which is 2 hours). And, what I commonly see is that employers don’t train their employees, they find asbestos, disturb it and then get in trouble.

Any advice for how our company can avoid getting in these situations?

  • Answer: Train your office staff before you actually train your hands-on employees. If your estimators, project managers, superintendents and vice presidents know what to look for before bidding a job, then everyone has time to prepare and get the proper surveys, documentation, assistance, and training.

« Previous Page