September 15, 2003—The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has added a new a Self-Inspection Checklist, to its safety and health topics page on Asbestos.
The Self-Inspection Checklist includes such questions as:
- Have you identified the presence, location, and quantity of all asbestos-containing materials in the work place?
- Have employees and contract employers and their employees (including housekeeping personnel) received initial awareness or worker training as well as annual refresher training appropriate to their work assignments and is the training material available for employees and regulators to inspect?
- Are regulated areas established and demarcated, and is access restricted appropriately?
- Is drinking, smoking, chewing gum or tobacco, and application of cosmetics prohibited in the regulated area?
- Is a written respiratory protection program and a medical surveillance program in effect?
- Are workers provided with protective work clothing and equipment appropriate to the work assignment, and are workers provided with clean clothing and equipment at least weekly?
- Are workers provided with a clean room and shower facilities appropriate to the work being performed, and is the change room separated from the storage area where potentially contaminated clothing and equipment are kept?
