Safety Training Program Highlights

About Asbestos Awareness

Asbestos is some times called the "silent killer". This is because there are no visible warning signs that Asbestos is particularly hazardous.

Also, no immediate side effects are experienced by workers after exposure. But this common mineral B found in many buildings constructed before 1980 B can cause lung disease, cancer and even death if not handled safely.

For years the federal government has been concerned about worker exposure to Asbestos and Asbestos-Containing Materials (ACMs).

After much research and public debate, OSHA published the final rule for the Asbestos Standard in August of 1994, and made several revisions to the Standard in June of 1995.

The Standard covers approximately four million workers in industrial, construction and shipbuilding environments.

As part of the Asbestos Standard, all maintenance and custodial staff who work in buildings that may contain Asbestos or ACMs must receive training, whether or not working directly with Asbestos or ACMs is considered to be part of their job. This reflects OSHA's focus on "potential exposure" of any type.

OSHA is convinced that many of the problems associated with Asbestos exposure in the past have been due to a lack of knowledge about the proper methods needed to handle Asbestos and ACMs.

This is why the Standard requires that workers who don't really work directly with Asbestos, but who may have incidental exposure, must receive at least "Asbestos Awareness Training".

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Asbestos Awareness