Asbestosis or Mesothelioma is a very dangerous disease that causes cancerous growth in the lungs of the victims, who are exposed to asbestos dust. Asbestos has some good properties such as hardness and heat resistance, making it useful for automotive, insulation and construction industry. But at the same time, it is highly dangerous to human life because of his "fine fibrous threads, which can easily find their way into the human body through the nose and mouth. The fine dust settles in the lung cavity and gradually leads to lung cancer, which has very high mortality rates.
Classification of exposure
To combat this growing malaise, the Labor Department said that employers comply with OSHA regulations, governing the workers and their environment, in industries using asbestos. OSHA exposure levels classified into four categories, depending on the degree of exposure:
- Class I-This is the most dangerous kind of asbestos exposure and is aimed at workers who work on removing asbestos insulation and sprayed on the surface.
- Class II-This is for workers who remove asbestos floor tiles and ceilings.
- Class III-regulates the repair and maintenance crew who work with asbestos-related products.
- Class IV-regulates workers clear the asbestos waste and debris.
Safety regulations:
OSHA has safety regulations framed to protect workers from exposure to asbestos. The aim is to reduce or eliminate health hazards that inhalation of asbestos poses to human life. Some important rules to follow to achieve compliance with OSHA's asbestos protection, listed below:
- The permissible exposure limit for asbestos should not be more than 0.1 airborne asbestos fiber per cubic centimeter, an 8 – hour shift.
- Protective clothing and mask must be provided to workers to protect them from the lethal effects of exposure to asbestos. OSHA Approved High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter should be used because it can trap 99.97 percent of particles 0.3 micrometers in diameter of the particles.
- Vacuum should be used to clean the dust of asbestos and the use of compressed air is prohibited.
- A licensed contractor should be hired to clean up areas contaminated by asbestos, as this reduces the risk of contamination considerably.
- Employers must educate workers about the risks of exposure and train them on how to work safely and securely.
- Contaminated areas should be clearly marked with warning signs that workers are aware of the danger areas on the premises.
- Decontamination of special areas in the facilities should be established so that workers can safely remove contaminated clothing and safety gear without inhaling the dust.
- Contamination of the belongings of the workers should be safely disposed off in a secure container, marked with a warning of danger of asbestos.
- Thorough medical examination of workers is necessary and all records must be kept by the employer for thirty years, such as mesothelioma takes many years to show symptoms in their victims.
The primary objective of OSHA is to create awareness about the health risks of asbestos exposure.The organization helps employers and employees through training programs to adopt safety standards to minimize or eliminate the disease asbestosis.