Asbestos Employer Requirements

Employers must assess all asbestos operations for the potential to generate airborne fibers, and use exposure monitoring data to assess employee exposures. To determine expected exposures, a competent person must perform an initial exposure assessment to assess exposures immediately before or as the operation begins. Daily monitoring is required for Class I and Class II regulated areas, unless all employees use a supplied-air respirator operated in positive pressure mode. If exposure is expected to exceed the PEL, periodic monitoring is required for Class III and Class IV areas.

In addition, employers are required to provide medical examinations for workers who engage in Class I, II, or III work, or who experience exposure above a PEL for 30 or more days per year.

Additional employer requirements include:

• Marking off all regulated areas
• Providing training for all employees exposed above a PEL, and for employees involved in identified work classification
• Ensuring that warning labels are placed on all asbestos products, containers, and installed construction materials
• Posting warning signs at entrances of structures containing asbestos
• Providing control methods to limit exposure levels, such as local exhaust ventilation equipped with HEPA-filter dust collection systems, isolation, PPE, and respiratory protection
• Providing decontamination areas

To learn more about Shipyard Chemical Hazards visit our Shipyard Chemical Hazards & Toxic Substances Online Training web page.