The only known cause for mesothelioma is asbestos exposure, even in small amounts. It is necessary to be aware when you are in contact with or live near a plant that handles this substance that you are at risk of developing an incurable disease.
Employers that manufacture products using asbestos and those that process asbestos are required to train their employees and protect them from exposure to asbestos. Many companies have lost multimillion dollar lawsuits because it has been shown that they knew the risks o the employees but did nothing to protect them. In order to prevent this from continuing, employers now provide training, training materials and safety equipment. These aspects of working with asbestos are regulated by the federal government and can cause a company to shut down if they are not adhered to.
Managing Asbestos Safety
There are a number of facets involved in managing and disposing of asbestos that keep employees safe from mesothelioma, and employers safe from lawsuits. They include:
- Exposure Monitoring: All personnel potentially exposed to asbestos are monitored by breathing zone air sampling. Sampling and analysis is performed in accordance with OSHA regulations.
- Exposure Assessments: All asbestos-disturbing activities are preceded by a review of proposed work to verify that work will not cause employees to be exposed to asbestos.
- Medical Surveillance: All employees assigned to work involving the disturbance of asbestos are examined by a doctor prior to their first assignment and annually. The doctor must approve of the employee’s fitness for the assigned job.
- Personal Protection: All employees are provided full body and respiratory protection appropriate for the airborne asbestos concentration.
- Engineering Controls: Emissions from the asbestos are controlled by: local exhaust ventilation with HEPA filtration and exhausted outdoors (whenever possible), vacuums equipped with HEPA filtration, and glovebag or glovebox enclosure systems.
- Area Preparation: Areas of exposure must be posted with warning signs, have barrier restricted access and decontamination facilities.
- Waste Handling and Disposal: Asbestos waste is packaged while wet and sealed in waterproof containers. All asbestos waste is labeled in accordance with OSHA, EPA and DOT regulations. All relevant information about the asbestos, company and containment must be on the container and it has to be disposed of in an EPA approved disposal site.
- Waste Storage, Transport and Documentation: Asbestos waste cannot be stored where it is processed. It must be placed in secured vehicles or containers that are marked with warning signs at all times. Waste must be documented in accordance with EPA/DOT requirements to the disposal site.
Training
Employers must provide all employees with appropriate training for their responsibilities when working with asbestos to prevent exposure which can lead to mesothelioma.
Every employee must have training in work practices, regulations, equipment, decontamination, handling and disposal, medical surveillance, exposure monitoring, containment, health effect and risks, and record keeping. These segments of training are all equally important and must be internalized by the employees to prevent risks. Most training sessions end with some examination and documentation of completion. |
Inspections and Record Keeping
All asbestos worksites are to be annually inspected for condition and all repairs must me made within set time frames. The ventilation systems as well as the work areas are inspected. Buildings which have housed or used asbestos in construction must also be inspected regularly to ensure that there is no exposure risk to employees.
Records must be kept of all inspections, samples, designs, surveillance, medical records, surveys, monitoring and other important information for a specific time period according to OSHA standards as determined by business size. Also, medical records must be kept for a minimum of 30 years after an asbestos exposed employee leaves an asbestos related company. |
