Asbestos Awareness-
Asbestos
Asbestos may look soft and fuzzy, but in the right conditions it is a protector of buildings and infrastructure. Its uses have ranged from structural fireproofing to acoustical spray to the filter for cigarettes. The tensile strength of Asbestos resulted in its inclusion into many different surfacing materials including stucco, gypsum board (drywall), cement board (transite), and many more popular applications. Though asbestos has been demonized in various venues, most notably court rooms throughout the world, many people rely on this "wonder mineral" every time they hit the brakes or press the clutch of a motor vehicle.
Unfortunately, under the wrong conditions it is a known carcinogen with symptoms that can take up to 40 years to make themselves known. After long term exposure to high concentrations of airborne asbestos fibers, asbestos is the primary cause of the disease that bears its name, asbestosis, which causes severe scaring of sensitive lung tissues. As with many things in life, such as cars and electricity, safe practices can protect individuals from the hazards associated with asbestos so that the benefits can be utilized.
In the United States, many have assumed that asbestos was banned and aside from the long period between exposure of the material and the disease possibly manifesting itself at some point in the future, it is no longer a problem. This is NOT the case and has been the source of many unnecessary exposures to the dangerous fibers. It is with this understanding that this training has been developed to assist employers with their occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) mandated obligation to communicate the hazards of asbestos with general asbestos awareness training to their housekeeping staff and other employees who may work with or around asbestos containing material [29CFR1910.1001(j)]. This training will provide the general aspects required by the OSHA Asbestos standard , but in its present form will NOT fully satisfy the site specific requirement associated with the standard. Successful completion of this training unit will result in a certificate being delivered with the remaining site specific items needing to be addressed. This training will not be deemed completed until a representative of the employer has initialed the site specific portions and signed the certificate.
Resources:
Asbestos Awareness Training Materials used with the permission of Assurance Compliance, all rights reserved © 2009.
Resources:
US Environmental Protection Agency, (http://www.epa.gov/asbestos)
US Occupational Safety and Health Adminstration (OSHA), (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/index.html)
Disclaimer: In efforts to assist small and nonprofit institutions meet their OSHA and EPA compliance requirements, Assurance Compliance provides these free resources to assist with your training needs. Institutions can register and use available training resources without cost to the institution for general training instruction. This also includes quizzes that can be tracked and verified. Contact us for further information regarding these features. When copying materials from the website, we ask that you include the following statement, "These copyrighted materials are used by permission of Assurance Compliance http://www.assurancecompliance.com. These materials are to provide the general requirements of the respective standards, but do not include the site specific materials that may be required by a specific standard. It is up to the individual institutions to assess the appropriateness of materials and ensure that they meet the individual requirements of the specific institutions. Assurance Compliance makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy of these materials."
