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Environmental Health and Safety

Asbestos Management Plan


Asbestos Management Plan, Attachment D, Asbestos Hazard Awareness Training

 

ASBESTOS HAZARD AWARENESS TRAINING

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of this procedure is to describe the asbestos awareness training program. This training is administered by individuals who are considered “Asbestos Competent Persons” as defined in the AHERA legislation.

 

II. CONTENTS

PART 1 - INTRODUCTION

A. Introduction of Speakers

  • Job Title
  • Education, training, and experience (establish credibility)

B. Purpose of Class

  • Provide general information regarding asbestos to workers who are considered “non-asbestos” workers
  • Address questions students may have on the subject

C. Overview of Class

  • Discuss topic areas
  • Encourage the discussion aspect of the class

D. Get an Idea of the Trades Represented

  • Familiarize yourself with your audience
  • Identify experts for later discussions

 

PART 2 - HISTORY

A. Define Asbestos - derived from Greek Work meaning “inextinguishable.”

B. Early uses:

  • Spun into cloth similar to cotton
  • Wicks of lamps
  • Pottery — Finnish potters added to clay to give strength

C. Re-discovery:

  • Fell out of use in early A.D.
  • Re-discovered usefulness at the beginning of the industrial revolution
  • It is estimated that in 1890, 1,000 tons of asbestos was used in the United States. By 1978, 6,000,000 tons were used.

D. Common Uses of Asbestos Seen Today (Discussion):

  • Write suggestions on the board
  • Pass out handout of asbestos found in buildings

 

PART 3 - TYPES OF ASBESTOS AND THEIR USES

A. Asbestos is any one of six (6) naturally occurring silicates.

B. Mineralogical classifications include:

  1. Serpentine (e.g., chrysotile)
  2. Amphibole (e.g., amosite)

C. Discuss species of asbestos, mineralogic class, common name, characteristics (refer to handouts and overheads).

 

PART IV - HEALTH EFFECTS OF ASBESTOS

A. Respiratory Tract

1. Vast majority of asbestos-related disease is respiratory

2. Normal function of respiratory system

(a) Review Structures (refer to overhead)

  • Nose
  • Mouth
  • Trachea
  • Bronchi — carry oxygen to lungs
  • Alveoli — where gas exchange occurs with blood
  • Pleura — surrounds lungs and pleural cavity; coated with liquid to allow lungs to easily slip by chest wall during expansion and contraction.

(b) Filtration mechanism for inhaled contaminants — review functions

  • Impaction in nose & mouth
  • Mucous lined airways
  • Ciliated cells in airways
  • Macrophages in alveolar region

3. Asbestosis — Characterized by fibrotic scarring of the lung

(a) Reduces lung capacity — lungs cannot expand.

(b) Latency — fifteen to thirty years.

(c) Clear dose/response relationship: The greater the asbestos exposure, the greater the potential for injury.

(d) All types of asbestos have been linked to asbestosis.

(e) The proposed mechanism for asbestosis development is as follows:

  • A few fibres are not filtered out in the upper airways
  • The fibres reach the terminal air sacs (alveoli)
  • Macrophages in the alveolar region
  • Asbestos is inert, therefore, it cannot be broken down
  • A coating is subsequently deposited on fiber
  • Scar tissue forms around the fiber
  • Increased scarring throughout the lung results in asbestosis

4. Mesothelioma

(a) A cancer of the pleura.

(b) The abdominal cavity lining can also be affected.

(c) Latency of thirty to forty years.

(d) Can be caused by very low exposure: not directly related to dose (Steve McQueen wore an asbestos suit while race car driving. It is thought that this limited exposure may have caused his illness.)

(e) Rapidly spreading and always fatal.

5. Lung cancer

(a) Asbestos related tumors are usually found in the lower lobes.

(b) Most cancers found are glandular in nature which is rarely the case in non-asbestos related tumors.

(c) Latency — twenty plus years.

(d) Dose/response relationship has been established — although no “safe” level has yet been determined.

6. Smoking and lung cancer

(a) The risk of developing lung cancer among asbestos workers increases drastically if workers also smoke (use attached overhead)

  • Set the general population equal to 1.
  • Asbestos workers who do not smoke are five times more likely to develop lung cancer than the general public.
  • People who smoke but do not work with asbestos are ten times as likely to develop lung cancer than the general public.
  • People who smoke and work with asbestos are fifty to ninety times as likely to develop cancer.
  • Obviously this incidence rate is due to more than just adding up factors. The term for such relationships where risk factors increase in multiples is “synergistic.”

(b) Two proposed mechanisms for asbestos-related lung cancer development associated with cigarette smoking:

Mechanism #1

  • Smoke is inhaled and ciliated cells along the airways are temporarily paralyzed.
  • The body can no longer defend against unwanted dust.
  • The offending asbestos particles cannot be cleared. This allows them more time to work downward toward the alveolar region or imbed into tissues.

Mechanism #2

  • Asbestos is inhaled and trapped in fibrotic areas.
  • Normal mechanical clearance(mucous and cilia) is disrupted.
  • Tobacco smoke subsequently inhaled is cleared less efficiently, therefore, carcinogens in the smoke remain in contact.

(c) Asbestos fibers preferentially settle in peripheral regions of lower lobes.

(d) Both of the proposed mechanisms result in the same disease; it is likely that a combination of factors elicits the observed synergistic response.

 

B. Non-respiratory Asbestos-related Conditions

1. Asbestos “warts:”

(a) Fiber bundles embed in tissue; usually hands.

(b) Gloves should be worn when handling asbestos.

2. Colon, esophageal, or stomach cancer:

(a) May be asbestos-related.

(b) Fibers can work their way through soft tissues to adjacent structures and embed.

(c) Fibers entering the mouth can be swallowed thereby entering the digestive tract.

(d) Asbestos physicals generally include a rectal exam.

(e) Poor Hygiene, leaving food out in contaminated areas, and carelessness all can contribute to ingestion of asbestos.

 

C. Symptoms and Effects of Asbestos Exposure

1. Acute exposure: no immediate symptoms or effects

2. Chronic Exposure:

(a) Shortness of breath

(b) Dry cough

(c) Loss of appetite

(d) Weight loss

(e) Asbestosis

(f) Lung cancer

(g) Mesothelioma

(h) Intestinal tract cancers

By the time chronic effects manifest themselves, disease is most often irreversible.

 

Link to download the latest version of Adobe Reader

PART V - LOCATION OF ASBESTOS ON CAMPUS

A. Distribute list of areas known to contain ACM (“Notification List”) Link to download the latest version of Adobe Reader and discuss.

B. Discuss areas already abated.

C. Ask if attendees are aware of any areas known to contain asbestos which are not on Notification List.

D. Generally discuss campus identification \ labeling protocol for areas containing asbestos.

 

PART VI - DISCUSSION OF CONDITIONS OF ASBESTOS

A. Define friable and the significance of material found in this condition.

B. What causes asbestos materials to become damaged and friable?

1. Some material is applied in a friable state:

(a) Fireproofing

(b) Blown-on acoustical insulation

(Ask for more examples)

2. Physical disturbance:

(a) Basketballs thrown up at asbestos ceilings.

(b) Broom handles scraped along corridor ceilings.

(c) Ceiling tiles or other debris falling on pipes during renovation.

(d) Pipe work requiring breaking seal around lagging.

3. Deterioration or delamination:

(a) Water leaks from ceiling causes ceiling asbestos coating to pull away (delaminate) from base material.

(b) Steam leak

(c) Weather

4. How to recognize damage:

(a) Ceiling water stains

(b) Visibly disturbed lagging

(c) Suspicious debris

 

PART VII - CAMPUS ASBESTOS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

A. General program for control of asbestos.

B. Who is the campus asbestos coordinator?

C. What is small scale (glovebag) removal procedure, and how are Unit 6 personnel involved?

D. Who performs full-scale removal on campus? How are contractors selected?

E. What should be done in the event of an asbestos emergency?

F. What should be done if questionable material not previously classified is discovered?

 

PART VIII - REGULATIONS

A. Cal-OSHA Asbestos Regulations (see overhead):

  1. PEL = 0.1 fibers/cc
  2. Excursion limit = 1 fibers/cc

B. AB 3713 and AB 1564 (provided as handouts):

  1. Notification of employees
  2. Posting

C. Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA):

  1. Regulates K-12 schools only; not private sector or post 12 schools.
  2. Outlines protocol for setting up asbestos program requirements, and for training of each party involved in the response effort;specified two-hour awareness training.
  3. CSU does not fall under these regulations, but rather looks to them for guidance.

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This page last updated January 28, 2008
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