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farnorthdan · January 10, 2008, 05:17 PM

Hey you guys are talkin my language....I do environmental remediation for a living and have been for about ten years and believe it or not lead is one of the many things we clean up. I've seen it in and remediated many types of lead in many varying conditions. All my workers actually have to be trained to to remidiation work and are state certified. You'd be suprised at all the different applications of lead containing materials that are around us right now.

As far as training to do this type of work, employees have to go through whats called a "Lead awareness class", basically this is an 8 hour course and primarily focusses on hygene issues ie. washing your hands before eating, smoking and/or anything else you might put in your mouth.

On projects where we are cleaning consealed dust areas, old paint removal etc. (old hangars, buildings etc.) workers wear PPE (personnel protective equipment) which includes rubber gloves, tyvec suits and HEPA filter equiped resperators. Workers also have maditory blood work done on an annual basis unless they are exposed for more than 30 consecutive days. Workers go through a decontamination procedure at the end of every work shift, not only for the safety of the worker but more importantly those who will come in contact with you when you leave the work place.....like your kids, who are by far more susseptable to the hazards of lead exposure.

Bottom line: there is an inherent risk accociated with working with or around lead containing materials, these risks can be minimized with the use of appropriate PPE.

Just my .02

January 10, 2008, 05:17 PM	#63
farnorthdan Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 2007 Posts: 371	environmental remediation Hey you guys are talkin my language....I do environmental remediation for a living and have been for about ten years and believe it or not lead is one of the many things we clean up. I've seen it in and remediated many types of lead in many varying conditions. All my workers actually have to be trained to to remidiation work and are state certified. You'd be suprised at all the different applications of lead containing materials that are around us right now. As far as training to do this type of work, employees have to go through whats called a "Lead awareness class", basically this is an 8 hour course and primarily focusses on hygene issues ie. washing your hands before eating, smoking and/or anything else you might put in your mouth. On projects where we are cleaning consealed dust areas, old paint removal etc. (old hangars, buildings etc.) workers wear PPE (personnel protective equipment) which includes rubber gloves, tyvec suits and HEPA filter equiped resperators. Workers also have maditory blood work done on an annual basis unless they are exposed for more than 30 consecutive days. Workers go through a decontamination procedure at the end of every work shift, not only for the safety of the worker but more importantly those who will come in contact with you when you leave the work place.....like your kids, who are by far more susseptable to the hazards of lead exposure. Bottom line: there is an inherent risk accociated with working with or around lead containing materials, these risks can be minimized with the use of appropriate PPE. Just my .02