Removing Asbestos-Containing Vinyl & Asphalt Flooring Materials

For removing vinyl and asphalt flooring materials containing asbestos or installed in buildings constructed before 1981, and not verified as asbestos free, employers must ensure that workers observe the following:

• Do not sand flooring or its backing
• Do not rip up resilient sheeting
• Do not dry sweep
• Perform mechanical chipping only in a negative-pressure enclosure
• Use vacuums equipped with HEPA filters to clean floors
• Remove resilient sheeting by cutting with wetting of the snip point and wetting during de-lamination
• Use wet methods to scrape residual adhesives and backing,
• Remove tiles intact, unless impossible (you may omit wetting when tiles are heated and removed intact)
• Assume resilient flooring material, including associated mastic and backing, is "asbestos containing" unless an industrial hygienist determines that it is asbestos free

To learn more about Construction Asbestos Safety visit our Construction Asbestos Safety Online Training web page.