Lead Safe Guide Phase 1
Many building owners do not recognize the dangers of lead-based paint and have no idea how to protect themselves during the renovation of their homes or businesses. How do you know if you are affected? If your home or business building was built before 1978, if you own or operate a child care facility including preschools and kindergarten classrooms built before 1978, or if you have a child under six years of age who attends a child care facility built before 1978.
As you are probably aware, lead can affect children’s brains and developing nervous systems, causing reduced IQ, learning disabilities, and behavior problems. It is also harmful to adults. Lead dust is the most common way people are exposed to lead, but exposure is also possible through lead in soil or paint chips. Projects that disturb painted surfaces can create dust and endanger you and your family. Don’t let this happen to you.
To determine if your home has lead or lead hazards, you can hire a certified professional to check for lead-based paint. These professionals are certified risk assessors or inspectors and can determine if your home has lead or lead hazards. For help finding a certified risk assessor or inspector, call the National Lead Information Center at 1-800424-LEAD (5323).
You may also have a certified renovator test the surfaces or components being disturbed for lead using a lead test kit. Test kits must be EPA-recognized and are available at hardware stores. They include detailed instructions for their use. In the next phase, we will continue with information on property owners’ responsibility, how to prepare for a renovation, and contractor precautions.
Lead Safe Guide Phase 2
You have the ultimate responsibility for the safety of your family, tenants, or children in your care. This means properly preparing for the renovation and keeping persons out of the work area. It also means ensuring the contractor uses lead-safe work practices. Federal law requires that contractors performing renovation, repair, and painting projects that disturb painted surfaces in homes, childcare facilities, and schools built before 1978 be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.
Make sure your contractor is certified, and can explain clearly the details of the job and how the contractor will minimize lead hazards during the work.
- You can verify that a contractor is certified by checking the EPA’s website at epa.gov/getleadsafe or by calling the National Lead Information Center at 1.800.424.LEAD (5323). You can also ask to see a copy of their firm certification.
- Ask if the contractor is trained to perform lead-safe work practices and to see a copy of their training certificate.
- Ask them what lead-safe methods they will use to set up and perform the job in your home, childcare facility, or school.
- Ask for references from at least three recent jobs involving homes built before 1978, and speak to each personally. Always make sure the contract is clear about how the work will be set up, performed, and cleaned.
- Share the results of any previous lead tests with the contractor.
- You should specify in the contract that they follow the work practices described on pages 9 and 10 of the brochure Lead Safe certified guide to Renovate Right.
- The contract should specify which parts of your home are part of the work area and specify which lead-safe work practices will be used in those areas. Remember, your contractor should confine dust and debris to the work area and should minimize spreading that dust to other areas of the home.
- The contract should also specify that the contractor will clean the work area, verify that it was cleaned adequately, and re-clean it if necessary.
If you think a worker is not doing what he is supposed to do or is doing something unsafe, you should:
- Direct the contractor to comply with regulatory and contract requirements.
- Call your local health or building department, or
- Call EPA’s hotline 1.800.424.LEAD (5323)
If your property receives housing assistance from HUD (or a state or local agency that uses HUD funds), you must follow the requirements of HUD’s Lead-Safe Housing Rule and the ones described herein. In the next phase, we will consider how to prepare for the renovation.
*The above information is from the EPA’s booklet, The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Rights.
Lead Safe Guide Phase 3
Lead remediation is not for the Do-It-Yourself-ers. This is something a professional should be doing because
- They should have all the necessary tools and education and
- Because they know the regulations to work by!
As an Average Joe homeowner, we have so many other things to care for, it’s safer in the long run to let the pros handle it. So let’s say you’ve contacted a professional that is going to start at your home. How do YOU prepare for the ‘invasion?’
First, the work areas should not be accessible to occupants while the work occurs. The rooms or areas where the work is being done may need to be blocked off or sealed with plastic sheeting to contain any dust generated. Therefore, you may not be able to access certain areas until the work in that room is complete, cleaned thoroughly, and the containment has been removed. Because you may not have access to those areas, plan accordingly.
You may need:
- Alternative sleeping, bathing, or eating areas if work is occurring in those places of your home.
- A safe place for pets because they, too, can be poisoned by lead and can track lead dust into other areas of the home.
- A separate pathway for the contractor from the work area to the outside in order to bring materials in and out of the home. Ideally, it should not be through the same entrance that your family uses.
- A place to store your furniture. All furniture and belongings may have to be moved from the work area while the work is being done. Items that cannot be moved, such as cabinets, should be wrapped in plastic.
- To turn off forced-air heating and air conditioning systems while the work is being done. This prevents dust from spreading through vents from the work area to the rest of your home. Consider how this may affect your living arrangements.
- You may even want to move out of your home temporarily while all or part of the work is being done.
- Childcare facilities and schools may want to consider alternative accommodations for children and access to necessary facilities.
Again, if you think a worker isn’t doing what he is supposed to do or is doing something that is unsafe, you should:
– Direct the contractor to comply with regulatory and contract requirements.
– Call your local health or building department, or Call the EPA’s hotline 1-800-424-LEAD (5323)
Lead Safe Guide Phase 4
Now that you as the homeowner have endured the hassle of preparation and routine upset, how do you make sure the job was done properly?
There are several things you can do.
Ask about your contractor’s final cleanup check. Remember, lead dust is often invisible to the naked eye. It may still be present even if you cannot see it. The contractor must use disposable cleaning cloths to wipe the floor of the work area and compare them to a cleaning verification card to determine if the work area was adequately cleaned. Need a cleaning verification card? That and detailed instructions can be obtained by visiting the EPA’s lead website at www.epa.gov/lead or by contacting the National Lead Information Center.
You may also choose to have a lead-dust test. Lead-dust tests are wipe samples sent to a lab for analysis.
- You should specify in your contract that a lead-dust test will be done. In this case, make it clear who will do the testing.
- Testing should be done by a lead professional.
If you choose to do the testing, some EPA-recognized lead laboratories will send you a kit that allows you to collect samples and send them back to the lab for analysis. Contact the National Lead Information Center at 1.800.424.LEAD (5323) for lists of qualified professionals and EPA-recognized lead labs.
If your home, child care facility or school fails the dust test, the area should be re-cleaned and tested again. Where the project is done by contract, it’s a good idea to specify in the contract that the contractor is responsible for re-cleaning if the home, child care facility, or school fails the test.
The National Lead Information Center can also provide a variety of resource materials, including the following guides to lead-safe work practices.
- Steps to Lead Safe Renovation, Repair and Painting
- Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home
- Lead in Your Home: A Parent’s Reference Guide
For the hearing impaired, call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 to access any of the phone numbers listed in this blog. Information herein can be referenced from the EPA’s handbook, The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Rights.