Document 0qwq8Ona5Ga5VD4rb43w495pR

SlAlt .* CAIlFORNFA HfAllM AMO W(lF**(*OfNF.r department of health 14-744 P StRftT ACRAMfWTO, CAllfORNFA V5I1A (4tS)M3-7<00 Ext. 306 eomuno c. brown >.. Cw-j. August 1977 AN OPEN LETTER TO MOTOR VEHICLE AN!) BRAKE REPAIR FACILITIES SUBJECT: Reporting Asbestos Use This letter is intended to make you aware that California employers who use or work with asbestos face new legal responsibilities for worker protection as part of an expanded Statu program to prevent job-related cancer. As you know, brake linings and other friction materials used in your industry contain asbestos, which in filter form is a known cause of human cancer. > The State's new Occupational Carcinogens Control Act seeks to prevent exposure of employees, employers and others to asbestos and 1 5 other State-regulated cancer-causing substances in the work place. The first new obligation for employers is to report the use of these materials. REPORTING ASBESTOS USE Automotive repair facilities that are registered with the State Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) do not have to report the use of asbestos because they are obliged io register .annually with the bureau. But they arc not otherwise exempt from State regulations requiring that employees be protected irum unsafe exposure to asbestos dust. Brake and clutch repair facilities which arc not registered with the BAR must report to the chief of the Division of Industrial Safety (DIS) as asbestos users if work practices arc used which can create dust. These work practices include: blowing out brake dust wieli compressed air, of the grinding,- sanding, drilling, arcing or beveling of brake shoes or clutch facings. If these dusty work practices are not used, reporting is not required. PENALTIES Reporting must be done by September 1. 1977. After that date there is a $500 fine for failing to report to the chief of DIS. Effective July I, 1977. there are $1,000 fines for serious safety violations of Cal/OSh{/A regulations involving asbestos and a $5,000 fine for repeat infractions. REPORTING PROCESS Repair shops, garages, automobile dealers, and other facilities registered with the State Bureau of Automotive Repair arc automatically registered with the chicl ot DIS and need not follow the reporting process described below. These facilities arc also exempt from the $500 fine for failure to report to the chief of.DIS. SPNY 004748