Working with lead personal protective equipment

Occupational skin diseases health and safety precautions Acrylonitrile personal protective equipment Control of lead air sampling techniques and strategies Control of lead outside workers Control of lead pottery and related industries Control of exposure to polyvinyl chloride dust Control of exposure to talc dust Atmospheric pollution in car parks Benzidine based dyes. Health and safety precautions Probable asbestos dust concentrations at construction premises Work with asbestos cement Work with asbestos insulating board Ozone health hazards and precautionary measures Occupational exposure limits (updated yearly)... 

A complete and detailed work history is important in the initial evaluation. A listing of all previous employment with information on job description, exposure to fumes or dust, known exposures to lead or other toxic substances, a description of any personal protective equipment used, and previous medical surveillance should all be included in the worker s record. Where exposure to lead is suspected, information concerning on-the-job personal hygiene, smoking or eating habits in work areas, laundry procedures, and use of any protective clothing or respiratory protection equipment should be noted. A complete work history is essential in the medical evaluation of a worker with suspected lead toxicity, especially when long term effects such as neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity are considered. 

If demolition or refurbishment is to be undertaken, then hazards associated with structural collapse, fire, working at height, lifting and carrying and electricity must be considered together with health hazards from lead, asbestos, vermin and insects. As mentioned in Chapter 10, a structural survey before work commenced should reduce the risk of unintentional structural collapse. The issue of hot work permits, provision of fire-fighting equipment and suitable storage facilities for flammable substances should control the fire risk. Health risks can be controlled, for example, by the use of licensed contractors for the removal of asbestos, specialist contractors to eradicate vermin and the provision of suitable personal protective equipment. 

All personal protective equipment, except respiratory protection equipment (which is covered by specific Regulations, such as COSHH, lead, etc) is controlled by its own set of regulations - the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations. A detailed summary of these Regulations is given in Chapter 20 and needs to be studied in detail with this section. The principal requirements of these regulations are as follows ... 

Creating safe work areas is an important part of working with lead. There are many things you can do to increase safety and reduce potential problems. Start by selecting appropriate personal protective equipment. Then make sure that your workers use it. This should include appropriate eyewear, clothing, and respiratory protection for the job. 

If the airborne exposure is to be determined for a particular job, the IH must be prepared to monitor quickly. The next day may be too late. Concentrations usually need to be high to find TWAs that exceed OSHA PELs. More often than not the construction worker is not conducting the same job for an 8 h period. Many tasks are usually required to accomplish a day s work, which also makes it difficult to evaluate a particular hazard. A worker welding, cutting, and burning all day on an outside project such as a painted bridge may have no exposure or wind up in the hospital undergoing chelation therapy with a blood lead level in the hundreds. Many variables affect the potential and real exposure levels such as work habits, weather, and type of paint on the steel as well as personal protective equipment used. 

Each of the generic categories in Figure 12.9 could be used as a separate checklist at the initiation of a coaching process. The first category, for example, could lead to the development of a CBC for observation of personal protective equipment. Specific PPE behaviors for the work area could be listed in a left-hand column, with space on the right to check safe and at-risk observations. This kind of CBC could be used to record the observations of several individuals, by simply adding checks in the safe or at-risk columns for each observation of an individual s use or nonuse of a particular PPE item. 

Front-line supervisors should set the tone for safety, lead by example, ensure that workers are properly trained and qualified to perform their work, and provide the proper tools, personal protective equipment (PPE), planning, and so on to ensure that the work is done safely and properly. Front-line supervisors have a difficult and important job. If we relate back to our discussion of the Hawthorne Effect, supervisors need to be treated as important team members also. They interface between the team members who are getting the work done and the management team. This situation can be difficult. Front-line supervisors typically wear many hats. They must manage the job from a viewpoint of the superintendent, yet they must deal with the workers on a personal level on a constant basis. The supervisor might be expected to be part of all of the following job functions ... 

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