Regulatory Compliance Series

Asbestos Awareness

OSHA's regulation 29 CFR 1910.1101... Occupational Exposure to Asbestos requires that all employees who could come into contact with materials that might contain asbestos be given appropriate training on working safely in these situations. Employees are divided into four classes. Classes I - III are employees whose work involves installing or disturbing materials that might contain asbestos. However, the largest group of employees covered by this regulation fall into the Class IV group, which involves employees that get involved in... maintenance and custodial activities to clean up waste and debris containing these type of materials.

Since many materials commonly used in buildings for many years (including ceiling tiles, vinyl flooring, and wall and pipe insulation) contain asbestos, this means that the regulation applies to virtually every custodial, janitorial and maintenance worker in the country.

TPC Training Systems' training products on Asbestos Awareness have been created specifically to educate employees about the dangers of working with materials that may contain asbestos. Topics covered in these products include:

• Hazards of asbestos.
• OSHA's Asbestos Standard.
• Composition and nature of asbestos.
• Types of materials that may contain asbestos, and where they are encountered.
• How to protect yourself when disturbing a material that may contain asbestos.
• Air monitoring and decontamination.