Only trained workers do asbestos work

The hazard

Asbestos is still in many older buildings, in insulation, flooring, roofing and other materials. Disturbing it can release fibers too small to see, and you can breathe them in without knowing it. Those fibers can cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis, often many years later, and smoking makes the lung cancer risk worse. You cannot tell asbestos by looking at it, so if you are not sure, stop and ask.

The action

In construction, each employee who performs Class I through IV asbestos work, or who is likely to be exposed above a permissible exposure limit, must be trained at no cost, before or at initial assignment and at least annually after that (29 CFR 1926.1101(k)(9)(i) and (k)(9)(ii)). Even Class IV work, where maintenance and custodial workers contact but do not disturb asbestos, requires a course of at least 2 hours (29 CFR 1926.1101(b) and (k)(9)(vi)). This talk does not qualify anyone to remove, repair or disturb asbestos. (29 CFR 1926.1101(k)(9)(i))