Contractors the target of new regulations on lead safety

Citation

(2006), "Contractors the target of new regulations on lead safety", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 53 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2006.12853bab.005

Contractors the target of new regulations on lead safety

Contractors the target of new regulations on lead safety

Keywords: Health and safety, Lead

A recent Small Business Roundtable meeting sponsored by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy addressed the emerging regulatory efforts of government agencies to control lead hazards arising from construction activities. Three separate government agencies, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), each have launched distinct initiatives aimed at changing the work practices of the renovation and remodelling industry in an effort to curb the generation of lead- contaminated dust, as well as ensuing exposures that result in childhood lead poisoning. These efforts will clearly affect painting contractors and other construction industry users of paint and coatings products.

Efforts to regulate the renovation and remodelling industry have long been anticipated as a result of the congressional intent established in the 1992 Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act, also known as Title X. When Title X first passed, its initial emphasis was on OSHA, which was required to issue an emergency standard covering lead exposures in the construction industry. This standard (29 CFR 1926.62) was promulgated in 1993 and has served to direct work practices and occupational health programs for construction workers for the past 12 years. The OSHA Lead in Construction Standard is currently under review by the agency, which has requested comments from the affected industry.

OHSA's principle enforcement efforts under the standard have been on high- exposure construction projects where old, deteriorated lead paint is commonly encountered, such as bridge repainting. In developing the standard, OSHA modelled its requirements on other chemical-specific standards, requiring construction company employers to make an initial determination of lead hazards that could arise from planned construction activities (by monitoring the workplace air), after which specific work practice controls (including worker training, use of personal protective equipment and medical monitoring) are required depending on the level and duration of exposure. In the absence of an initial determination, employers are required to utilize the maximum level of work practice controls. Construction industry critics cite the high costs of undertaking an initial determination for each job site and burdensome training and worker protection programs.

As OSHA moves to consider amendments to the standard, limited applicability and increased flexibility will be sought by construction industry stakeholders. NPCA has already begun to talk with contractors in the hopes of forging a common position that incorporates proper workplace safeguards when lead-based paint is to be disturbed during renovation and remodeling. NPCA's extensive experience on offering lead-safe work practices training under the NPCA- State Attorneys General Agreement has become a critical factor in forging consensus. The information derived from holding over 320 free training sessions, which reached over 7,500 contractors in the last two years, has made NPCA one of the national authorities on education and outreach to the construction industry.

NPCA's contractor training experience, which used the HUD-EPA curriculum on controlling lead hazards during renovation and remodelling, has demonstrated that contractors understand the importance of limiting lead exposures and the value lead-safe work practices for completing a project and leaving the jobsite clean. Contractors need some assurances from regulators, however, that beneficial reliance on lead-safe work practices is well-founded and that the consuming public is well-served by contractors that get the necessary training and properly apply it on the work site. To date, OSHA has been reluctant to provide such assurances; however, in the nearly 12 years since the standard was issued, a great deal of information has been generated on the effectiveness of lead safe work practices that should allow their unqualified adoption.

EPA is poised to echo the need for regulation of the construction industry as it moves to publish a proposed rule (pursuant to its Title X mandate) on renovation and remodelling later this year. EPA had previously considered fostering voluntary programs on lead safe work practices, but faced with pressure from the New York and Illinois Attorney Generals Offices, and from US Senator Barack Obama (D- Ill.), they have recently announced the a comprehensive and enforceable rule would be sought. Again, NPCA's experience in its extensive lead-safe work practices training effort will be able to provide critical and valuable information on how a nationwide rule might be constructed to effectively engage the renovation and remodelling industry. Already, NPCA is working with EPA Region IX to support their education and outreach efforts to contractors through the retail point-of- sale, and working with various state agencies to foster advances at the local level.

Finally, HUD has recently announced the successful programs that will receive 2005-2006 funding totalling some $115 million for lead hazard control activities. Many of the successful programs receiving funding have partnered with representatives of the renovation and remodelling industry. NPCA's has been requested to allocate some of its planned lead-safe work practices training sessions to support contractor outreach under four of the new HUD-funded projects. This means NPCA and its training contractors have become an integral and respected resource for contractors that want to get a jump on the regulatory requirements and build a business around capable lead hazard control services. While HUD has no new rulemaking on its agenda, the construction industry might want to consider steering that agency's annual funding efforts to renovation and remodelling activities that are targeted, feasible and effective in lead hazard control. NPCA is working to find a way to support such a worthwhile goal.

NPCA will need to be especially vigilant in monitoring the emerging regulatory efforts, in large part to support the investment made in promoting and offering what is arguably the best and most aggressive contractor training and support program ever offered by a product supplier. OSHA, EPA and HUD need to acknowledge the NPCA effort and reward the innovating “first-mover” contractors that have come to training sessions over the last two years voluntarily to help bring about reduced lead exposures and protect children.