(1)
Certification.
(a) Only
certified
asbestos workers may work on an
asbestos project as required in WAC
296-65-010
and
296-65-030.
(b) Only certified
asbestos supervisors may
supervise
asbestos abatement projects as required in WAC
296-65-012
and
296-65-030.
(c) In cases where certification
requirements of chapter
296-65 WAC do not apply, all employees must be trained
according to the provisions of this section regardless of their exposure
levels.
(d) Certification is not
required for asbestos work on materials containing less than one percent
asbestos.
(2) Training
must be provided prior to or at the time of initial assignment, unless the
employee has received equivalent training within the previous twelve months,
and at least annually thereafter.
(3)
Asbestos projects.
(a) Class I
work must be considered an asbestos project. Only certified asbestos workers
may do this work.
(b) Only
certified workers may conduct
Class II asbestos work that is considered an
asbestos project.
(i) The following
Class II
asbestos work must be considered
asbestos projects:
(A)
All Class II asbestos work where critical barriers, equivalent
isolation methods, or negative pressure enclosures are required; or
(B) All Class II asbestos work where
asbestos containing materials do not stay intact (including removal of vinyl
asbestos floor (VAT) or roofing materials by mechanical methods such as
chipping, grinding, or sanding).
(ii)
The following
Class II asbestos work is not considered an
asbestos project and is excluded from
asbestos worker certification:
(A) All Class II asbestos work involving
intact asbestos containing materials (for example, intact roofing materials,
bituminous or asphalt pipeline coatings, and intact flooring/decking
materials);
(B) All Class II
asbestos work of less than one square foot of asbestos containing materials;
or
(C) All
Class II asbestos work
involving
asbestos-cement water pipe when the work is done in accordance with
training approved by the
department through the
asbestos certification program
(see WAC
296-65-015(4)
).
(iii) Asbestos work
involving the
removal of one square foot or more of
intact roofing materials by
mechanical sawing or heavy equipment must meet the following requirements:
(A) Only certified asbestos workers may
conduct mechanical sawing of intact roofing material;
(B) Noncertified asbestos workers may handle
roofing dust, material and debris;
(C)
Operators of heavy equipment (such as track hoes with clam shells
and excavators) do not need to be certified asbestos workers in the removal or
demolition of intact roofing materials.
(c) Only certified
asbestos workers may
conduct all Class III and
Class IV asbestos work that is considered an
asbestos
project.
(i) The following
asbestos work is
considered an
asbestos project:
(A) All Class
III asbestos work where one square foot or more of asbestos containing
materials that do not stay intact;
(B)
All Class IV asbestos work where one square foot or more of
asbestos containing materials that do not stay intact; or
(C) All Class III and Class IV asbestos work
with pipe insulation.
(ii)
Except for a project involving pipe insulation work, any project
involving only Class III or Class IV asbestos work with less than one square
foot of asbestos containing materials is not considered an asbestos
project.
(4)
Training requirements for
asbestos work that is not considered an
asbestos
project or is excluded from
asbestos worker certification.
(a) Class II asbestos work.
(i) Employers must provide eight-hours of
training to employees who perform asbestos work on one generic category of
asbestos containing materials (ACM). When performing asbestos work in more than
one category of asbestos containing materials, additional training must be used
to supplement the first eight hour training course.
(ii) The training course must include:
(A) Hands-on training that applies to the
category of asbestos containing materials;
(B)
Specific work practices and
engineering controls related to the
category of
asbestos containing materials present as specified in WAC
296-62-07712;
and
(C) All the minimum elements
of subsection (5) of this section.
(b) Class III asbestos work (maintenance and
custodial work in buildings containing
asbestos containing materials).
(i) Employers must provide training with
curriculum and training methods equivalent to the sixteen-hour operations and
maintenance course developed by the EPA. (See
40 C.F.R.
763.92(a)(2).) For those
employees whose only affected work is Class II work as described in subsection
(4)(a)(i) of this section, employers must meet this 16-hour training
requirement or provide training that meets the eight hours Class II
requirements in subsection (4)(a) of this section.
(ii) Sixteen hours of training must include:
(A) Hands-on training in the use of
respiratory protection and work practices; and
(B) All the minimum elements of subsection
(5) of this section.
(c)
Class IV asbestos work (maintenance and custodial work in
buildings containing
asbestos-containing materials).
(i)
Employers must provide at least two hours of training with
curriculum and training methods equivalent to the awareness training course
developed by the EPA.
(ii)
Training must include:
(A) Available
information concerning the location of PACM, ACM, asbestos-containing flooring
materials or flooring materials where the absence of asbestos has not been
certified;
(B) Instruction on how
to recognize damaged, deteriorated, and delimitation of asbestos containing
building materials; and
(C) All of
the minimum elements of subsection (5) of this section.
(5) The training
program must be conducted in a manner which the employee is able to understand.
The employer must ensure that each employee is informed of the following:
(a) The health effects associated with
asbestos exposure;
(b) The
relationship between smoking and exposure to asbestos producing lung
cancer;
(c) Methods of recognizing
asbestos and quantity, location, manner of use, release (including the
requirements of WAC
296-62-07721(1)(c) and
(2)(b) to presume certain building materials
contain
asbestos), and storage of
asbestos and the specific nature of
operations which could result in exposure to
asbestos;
(d) The engineering controls and work
practices associated with the employee's job assignment;
(e) The specific procedures implemented to
protect employees from exposure to asbestos, such as appropriate work
practices, housekeeping procedures, hygiene facilities, decontamination
procedures, emergency and clean-up procedures (including where Class III and IV
work is performed, the contents "Managing Asbestos In Place" (EPA 20T-2003,
July 1990) or its equivalent in content), personal protective equipment to be
used, waste disposal procedures, and any necessary instructions in the use of
these controls and procedures;
(f)
The purpose, proper use, and limitations of protective clothing;
(g) The purpose and a description of the
medical surveillance program required by WAC
296-62-07725;
(h) The content of this standard, including
appendices;
(i) The names,
addresses and phone numbers of public health organizations which provide
information, materials, and/or conduct programs concerning smoking cessation.
The employer may distribute the list of such organizations contained in
Appendix I, to comply with this requirement;
(j)
The requirements for posting signs and affixing labels and the
meaning of the required legends for such signs and labels; and
(6) The employer
must also provide, at no cost to employees who perform housekeeping operations
in a facility which contains ACM or PACM, an
asbestos awareness training course
to all employees who are or will work in areas where ACM and/or PACM is present
who work in buildings containing
asbestos-containing materials, which must, at
a minimum, contain the following elements:
(a)
Health effects of asbestos;
(b)
Locations of ACM and PACM in the building/facility;
(c) Recognition of ACM and PACM damage and
deterioration;
(d) Requirements in
this standard relating to housekeeping; and
(e)
Proper response to
fiber release episodes.
Each such employee must be so trained at least once a
year.
(7)
Access to information and training materials.
(a)
The employer must make a copy of this standard and its appendices
readily available without cost to all affected employees.
(b) The employer must provide, upon request,
all materials relating to the employee information and training program to the
director.
(c) The employer must
inform all employees concerning the availability of self-help smoking cessation
program material. Upon employee request, the employer must distribute such
material, consisting of NIH Publication No. 89-1647, or equivalent self-help
material, which is approved or published by a public health organization listed
in Appendix I, WAC
296-62-07751.