Hygiene

When it comes to lead exposure, maintaining good personal hygiene could save a worker's life. Employers are required to provide handwashing facilities, and workers must always take advantage of these facilities before engaging in any activities where lead contamination is a risk. Workers should never eat, drink, or use tobacco within regulated areas or any areas where they could be exposed to lead above the permissible exposure limit. Workers also should not apply cosmetics or lip balm, or adjust contact lenses while lead contamination is a possibility.

If the employer has also provided showers, workers must shower at the end of the day to keep their hair and skin lead free. After showering, workers must not put their work clothes back on and wear them home. Instead, workers should wear their street clothes, which should be kept free from contamination in a separate storage container within clean changing rooms.

Any time workers enter a regulated area (that is, a designated area that contains airborne dust above the permissible exposure level), they must wear the proper protective clothing or equipment that their employer has mandated for that area.

To learn more about Construction Lead Exposure visit our Cal/OSHA Construction Lead Exposure Online Training web page.