WAC 296-62-07722   Employee information and training.  (1) Certification.

     (a) Only certified asbestos workers may work on an asbestos project as required in WAC 296-65-010 and 296-65-030.

     (b) Only certified asbestos supervisors may supervise asbestos abatement projects as required in WAC 296-65-012 and 296-65-030.

     (c) In cases where certification requirements of chapter 296-65 WAC do not apply, all employees must be trained according to the provisions of this section regardless of their exposure levels.

     (d) Certification is not required for asbestos work on materials containing less than one percent asbestos.

     (2) Training must be provided prior to or at the time of initial assignment, unless the employee has received equivalent training within the previous twelve months, and at least annually thereafter.

     (3) Asbestos projects.

     (a) Class I work must be considered an asbestos project. Only certified asbestos workers may do this work.

     (b) Only certified workers may conduct Class II asbestos work that is considered an asbestos project.

     (i) The following Class II asbestos work must be considered asbestos projects:

     (A) All Class II asbestos work where critical barriers, equivalent isolation methods, or negative pressure enclosures are required; or

     (B) All Class II asbestos work where asbestos containing materials do not stay intact (including removal of vinyl asbestos floor (VAT) or roofing materials by mechanical methods such as chipping, grinding, or sanding).

     (ii) The following Class II asbestos work is not considered an asbestos project and is excluded from asbestos worker certification:

     (A) All Class II asbestos work involving intact asbestos containing materials (for example, intact roofing materials, bituminous or asphalt pipeline coatings, and intact flooring/decking materials);

     (B) All Class II asbestos work of less than one square foot of asbestos containing materials; or

     (C) All Class II asbestos work involving asbestos-cement water pipe when the work is done in accordance with training approved by the department through the asbestos certification program (see WAC 296-65-015(4)).

     (iii) Asbestos work involving the removal of one square foot or more of intact roofing materials by mechanical sawing or heavy equipment must meet the following requirements:

     (A) Only certified asbestos workers may conduct mechanical sawing of intact roofing material;

     (B) Noncertified asbestos workers may handle roofing dust, material and debris;

     (C) Operators of heavy equipment (such as track hoes with clam shells and excavators) do not need to be certified asbestos workers in the removal or demolition of intact roofing materials.

     (c) Only certified asbestos workers may conduct all Class III and Class IV asbestos work that is considered an asbestos project.

     (i) The following asbestos work is considered an asbestos project:

     (A) All Class III asbestos work where one square foot or more of asbestos containing materials that do not stay intact;

     (B) All Class IV asbestos work where one square foot or more of asbestos containing materials that do not stay intact; or

     (C) All Class III and Class IV asbestos work with pipe insulation.

     (ii) Except for a project involving pipe insulation work, any project involving only Class III or Class IV asbestos work with less than one square foot of asbestos containing materials is not considered an asbestos project.

     (4) Training requirements for asbestos work that is not considered an asbestos project or is excluded from asbestos worker certification.

     (a) Class II asbestos work.

     (i) Employers must provide eight-hours of training to employees who perform asbestos work on one generic category of asbestos containing materials (ACM). When performing asbestos work in more than one category of asbestos containing materials, additional training must be used to supplement the first eight hour training course.

     (ii) The training course must include:

•	Hands-on training that applies to the category of asbestos containing materials,
•	Specific work practices and engineering controls related to the category of asbestos containing materials present as specified in WAC 296-62-07712, and
•	All the minimum elements of subsection (5) of this section.

     (b) Class III asbestos work (maintenance and custodial work in buildings containing asbestos containing materials).

     (i) Employers must provide training with curriculum and training methods equivalent to the sixteen-hour operations and maintenance course developed by the EPA. (See 40 CFR 763.92 (a)(2).) For those employees whose only affected work is Class II work as described in subsection (4)(a)(i) of this section, employers must meet this 16-hour training requirement or provide training that meets the eight hours Class II requirements in subsection (4)(a) of this section.

     (ii) Sixteen hours of training must include:

•	Hands-on training in the use of respiratory protection and work practices, and
•	All the minimum elements of subsection (5) of this section.

     (c) Class IV asbestos work (maintenance and custodial work in buildings containing asbestos-containing materials).

     (i) Employers must provide at least two hours of training with curriculum and training methods equivalent to the awareness training course developed by the EPA.

     (ii) Training must include:

•	Available information concerning the location of PACM, ACM, asbestos-containing flooring materials or flooring materials where the absence of asbestos has not been certified,
•	Instruction on how to recognize damaged, deteriorated, and delimitation of asbestos containing building materials, and
•	All of the minimum elements of subsection (5) of this section.

     (5) The training program must be conducted in a manner which the employee is able to understand. The employer must ensure that each employee is informed of the following:

     (a) The health effects associated with asbestos exposure;

     (b) The relationship between smoking and exposure to asbestos producing lung cancer;

     (c) Methods of recognizing asbestos and quantity, location, manner of use, release (including the requirements of WAC 296-62-07721 (1)(c) and (2)(b) to presume certain building materials contain asbestos), and storage of asbestos and the specific nature of operations which could result in exposure to asbestos;

     (d) The engineering controls and work practices associated with the employee's job assignment;

     (e) The specific procedures implemented to protect employees from exposure to asbestos, such as appropriate work practices, housekeeping procedures, hygiene facilities, decontamination procedures, emergency and clean-up procedures (including where Class III and IV work is performed, the contents "Managing Asbestos In Place" (EPA 20T-2003, July 1990) or its equivalent in content), personal protective equipment to be used, waste disposal procedures, and any necessary instructions in the use of these controls and procedures;

     (f) The purpose, proper use, and limitations of protective clothing;

     (g) The purpose and a description of the medical surveillance program required by WAC 296-62-07725;

     (h) The content of this standard, including appendices;

     (i) The names, addresses and phone numbers of public health organizations which provide information, materials, and/or conduct programs concerning smoking cessation. The employer may distribute the list of such organizations contained in Appendix I, to comply with this requirement;

     (j) The requirements for posting signs and affixing labels and the meaning of the required legends for such signs and labels; and

     (k) The purpose, proper use, limitations, and other training requirements for respiratory protection as required by chapter 296-842 WAC (see WAC 296-842-11005, 296-842-16005, and 296-842-19005).

     (6) The employer must also provide, at no cost to employees who perform housekeeping operations in a facility which contains ACM or PACM, an asbestos awareness training course to all employees who are or will work in areas where ACM and/or PACM is present who work in buildings containing asbestos-containing materials, which must, at a minimum, contain the following elements:

•	Health effects of asbestos,
•	Locations of ACM and PACM in the building/facility,
•	Recognition of ACM and PACM damage and deterioration,
•	Requirements in this standard relating to housekeeping, and
•	Proper response to fiber release episodes.

     Each such employee must be so trained at least once a year.

     (7) Access to information and training materials.

     (a) The employer must make a copy of this standard and its appendices readily available without cost to all affected employees.

     (b) The employer must provide, upon request, all materials relating to the employee information and training program to the director.

     (c) The employer must inform all employees concerning the availability of self-help smoking cessation program material. Upon employee request, the employer must distribute such material, consisting of NIH Publication No. 89-1647, or equivalent self-help material, which is approved or published by a public health organization listed in Appendix I, WAC 296-62-07751.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.060. 05-03-093, § 296-62-07722, filed 1/18/05, effective 3/1/05. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010,[49.17].040 , [49.17].050, and 49.26.130. 00-06-075, § 296-62-07722, filed 3/1/00, effective 4/10/00. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.26.040 and 49.26.130. 99-17-026, § 296-62-07722, filed 8/10/99, effective 11/10/99. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, [49.17].040 and[49.17].050 . 99-10-071, § 296-62-07722, filed 5/4/99, effective 9/1/99. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.040,[49.17.]050 and [49.17.]060. 97-01-079, § 296-62-07722, filed 12/17/96, effective 3/1/97.]