Lead Abatement ?

Jim Pompetti

Has anyone hear of this new amatory training , that MUST be done by April 1 2010

Larry (from OSHA)

Well, there's this:

Here's a link to an article about the rule: 



Read it here:



http://www.professionalequipment.com/images/email/html/100301-email-all.html?source=pe100301-news



And there is lots of talk on an electrical board.  Read it here:





http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=123808







Larry

Unknown

Well, all I can say is,,,

I think it`s ridiculous,, a perfect example of high salaries paid to government employees to think-up "dumb mandates" we all must pay-for,,, job security at its best! :-)   

Jean-David Beyer

I think it`s ridiculous ...

This kind of regimented nonsense is not restricted to heating, or to the U.S. government.

In the European Union, they do things just as dumb. Pipe organ pipes are made of a lead-tin alloy (most of them) with around 50% being lead (though the amount varies depending on the type of stop). And these days organs are provided with air under pressure created by electric fans. So ...



http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/22/international/europe/22organs.html

Jim Pompetti

Information

Heres where to look



www.kshealthyhomes.org



www.kshealthyhomes.org/download/RRP_handbook.pdf

Constantin

Just spent a weekend...

... stripping lead paint from window sashes and pulling out 80-year old

caulk while volunteering for a pre-school house renovation. Everyone

thought I was nuts for wearing a 1/2-face respirator, nitrile gloves,

etc.  (I brought my own)- they went for simple N95 masks, no gloves,

etc. instead.







We had a talk about lead during lunch on the job site and one volunteer

mentioned a neighbor whose kid got acute lead poisoning on account of

contractors tracking lead dust from parts of the home under

reconstruction into other parts of the home where there were babies

crawling/hoovering the floor. So job-site cleanliness is one factor, as

is occupancy. I'm sure none of the contractors did it intentionally,

they just didn't know better. A good family friend of ours also got

acute lead poisoning from a crumbling porch paint job when she was 2.







Many folk doing exterior and interior paint stripping pay no attention

to where chips go, potentially contaminating a large area, when lead

containment is easy - shop vacs not only contain the stuff so there is

less mess to clean up afterward but also help with sanding by sucking

away anything airborne that could get in the way. Yeah, having to handle

a long hose is not a lot of fun but neither is picking up stray flakes

in the back yard.







Lastly, I see a lot of this lead awareness re: sanding products as a

increasing fear of industry re: falling down the same path as all the

asbestos manufacturers. I.e. everyone and their uncle getting sued

because some product at some time may have contained minute amounts of

asbestos. Hence all the warnings on sandpaper. I'm not sure what the

best answer is re: lead abatement awareness, what would you suggest

instead of mandatory classes?

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)

once again

Went through an all-day course years ago because the local inspector for HUD said any of us bidding their work would need the cert. No one but me showed up for the class and it was, as I imagined, mostly common-sense that applied. But, I did learn a few things & it wasn't a total waste of time. The other attendees were all landlords or apartment managers.



But, here's the real kicker. As the only certified contractor bidding the HUD work, I thought that might give me an edge. However, the inspector tilted the playing field so that anyone could bid the work. The rule was: if your work required you demo more than 1 square foot of material with lead-based (or suspected to have) paint, the lead abatement rules applied. The inspector held up a sawzall blade (to the group bidding) and told us his interpretation was it would take a ton of cuts to demo 1-square-foot of material and the only thing he was going to consider was the width of that blade! I let that go back then.



But, given the fact that my previous cert will not be recognized and that I will be attending another (what I suspect will be a repeat) class for hundreds - once again - if the next inspector pulls the same hokey notion of what constitutes demolition of lead-based materials, there's gonna be hell to pay. 

Constantin

Fair is Fair

While that inspector may give you more trouble in the future for daring to challenge him and/or causing loss of face, it is your right to insist he/she do their job as intended instead of making up interpretations to suit their needs as they go along. Given the quality of work you and your crew do, the added 'heat' shouldn't be the problem!