Document 2Gv0KyVRdGb5rqVK3J72vGGa

22706 Federal Register / Vol. 51, No, 119 / Friday, June 20, 1986 / Rules and Regulations Although commenters were scaling the burden of compliance with themselves of the requirements of unanimous in recommending that OSHA the standard to the degree of hazard provisions that are triggered by the adopt a separate standard for associated with particular operations. action level or PEL, since such worker construction, many participants Depending on the nature and extent of isolation techniques effectively reduce emphasized that there were significant exposure, certain provisions of the final airborne concentrations of asbestos to differences in exposures, degree of rule may not be applicable in certain below the revised level of 0.1 f/cc. hazard, work conditions, and applicable situations or may have limited The operations listed in paragraph controls associated with various types applicability. The applicability of many (a)(1) of the scope and application of asbestos construction work (Exs. 84- provisions of the standard is based on paragraph account for most of the 307, 64-457, 328, 330, Trs. 6/20, 7/lZ,). As the results of initial employee construction jobs likely to involve the described above in Section IX, monitoring conducted by the employer installation, handling, removal, and Standards Recommended to OSHA by or on the availability of other objective disposal of asbestos-containing Interested Parties, several participants data concerning employee exposures or material; however. OSHA is aware that suggested various methods of dealing with these differences. For example, the Asbestos Information Association of North America (AIA/NA) recommended the adoption of a certification program involving the classification of asbestoscontaining materials according to their potential for releasing airborne asbestos fibers (Ex. 84-307). A similar scheme for categorizing products was suggested by the BCTD (Ex. 84-424). The ACC stressed the variability in asbestos construction tasks in a pre-hearing submittal that stated: ... the vast majority of exposures are both short term and at low levelB. Most exposures are incidental to other work. . . land involve) asbestos products not readily friable. The risk of heavy exposure will continue to attend abatement, demolition, and similar kinds of construction activity. . . . OSHA should. . . (develop a standard that requires) a graduated response to the risk of exposure, one which varies with the risk. (Ex. B4-457] OSHA finds the record evidence compelling both as regards the promulgation of a separate standard for construction and as regards the' development of a standard tailored to the varying levels of risk associated with different construction activities. Accordingly, the final standard applies to all occupational exposures to asbestos in the construction industry, but is tiered to apply increasingly stringent requirements to those work operations associated with the highest exposures. As the record demonstrates, employees engaged in asbestos removal, demolition, and renovation operations generally have the highest asbestos exposures of all construction workers. The standard therefore includes specific paragraphs addressed to'these operations: for example, employers conducting such abatement activities are required'to establish temporary ' - enclosures maintained under negative pressure and to ensure that their workers, where feasible, use the special hygiene facilities and decontamination procedures prescribed in paragraph (j)(2). OSHA believes:that this tiering product characteristics. For example, no such list can be all-inclusive. paragraphs (k)(3)(i) and (m)(l)(i) are Paragraph (a)(1) makes clear that the triggered by employee exposures above revised standard applies to demolition the action level, while other provisions, or salvage operations where asbestos is such as those in paragraphs (e)(1), (i)(l), present. Paragraph (a)(2) includes in the end (k)(l)(i) are triggered by exposures scope operations involving the removal above the PEL. In addition, the revised standard for construction recognizes that countless maintenance operations involving the handling of usbestos-containing materials are conducted in the United States daily, and that these operations, which are small in scale and of short duration, are vastly dissimilar in degree of hazard to many other asbestosrelated construction operations such as asbestos abatement projects. Exemptions from many of the final rule's provisions (e.g., paragraphs (e)(6), (i)(4),. and (j)(l)(i) have accordingly been provided in the revised standard for "small scale, short-duration operations." Although OSHA finds it impossible to specify with precision the exact size of a "small-scale" maintenance job or to pinpoint the time involved in a shortduration" task, the Agency believes that providing employers with examples of the type of operations that OSHA considers to be included in this class of operations will provide employers with the guidance needed to use the final rule's exemptions for such operations appropriately. Paragraph (e)(6) enumerates several of these operations, including: Pipe repair: valve replacement; installation of telephone circuits, electrical conduits, and drywall; and other general building maintenance and renovation tasks. For some of these or encapsulation of asbestos-containing products. Such asbestos abatement projects are typically associated with the highest asbestos exposures occurring in construction, and reflect an increasing national awareness of the hazards of exposure to asbestos. The volume of asbestos abatement work is increasing at a rapid rate, as more and more Federal agencies, local governments, and private-sector employers and building owners become aware of the hazards posed by the existence of asbestos-containing insulation materials end coatings in their facilities. The revised standard addresses the high hazard potential of work in the asbestos abatement portion of the construction industry by applying separate and stringent requirements to these operations. For example, employers engaged in such work are required to establish negative-pressure barriers enclosing the area where such work is taking place (paragraph (e)(6)) and to appoint a competent person to oversee the operation of this enclosure. These employers are also required to provide disposable work-suits for.all employees working within the . abatement enclosure (paragraph (i)(4)) and to ensure that these employers observe strict decontamination procedures before they leave the work operations, the quantities of asbestos- site. containing material that will need to be handled will be small enough so as not The construction operations listed in paragraph (a)(3) include construction, to result in employee exposures above alteration, repair, maintenance, or the action level or PEL; in these cases,. renovation of structures,, substrates, or the employer will' not need to comply portions thereof that contain asbestos. with the provisions that are triggered by These activities would involve minor these exposure levels. For many other operations, such as replacement of a maintenance operations, employers can gasket made of asbestos-containing choose to use exposure-control material, repair of a section of drywall, measures, such as glove bags, that or sanding down of old asbestos- effectively isolate the employee from the containing floor tiles. . asbestos-containing materials being The installation of hew asbestos- . approach will.simultaneously ensure ' . maximum employee protection while removed. Employers who use glove bags containing products, such as floor tiles and other similar techniques will avail and asbestos sheet and pipe, is called 1 ' GLEASON-000954