Ceiling Tiles OSHA Ceiling Tile Removal There are

Ceiling Tiles

OSHA Ceiling Tile Removal There are many different kinds of “ceiling tiles”. If they are ACM, the following requirements apply to all of them.

OSHA Ceiling Tile Removal 1. Competent Person - There must be a Competent Person trained at the AHERA Contractor/Supervisor level who oversees all work. - The Competent Person is responsible for all OSHA compliance and worker protection on the site. He will train and direct the workers in the hands-on procedures to comply with the OSHA regulations and company requirements. - The Competent Person will develop a Negative Exposure Assessment for the work and oversee employee air monitoring. - The Competent Person has all authority on the worksite and will make frequent inspections as necessary.

OSHA Ceiling Tile Removal 2. Critical barriers should be placed over all openings into the regulated area. 3. Dropcloths (poly) are to be used beneath all work. 4. Wet Methods -All work must be done with amended water wetting. 5. Removal must be done maintaining the material as intact as possible. Do not break up the tile. -”Intact” means that the material is not pulverized so as to release asbestos fibers. 6. Do not drop the tile to the floor. Hand each tile to another employee who will put it into a container. 7. As the tile is removed from a grid, HEPA vacuum each grid opening.

OSHA Ceiling Tile Removal 8. Cleanup of waste and debris must be done with HEPA filtered vacuums or by wet mopping/wiping. Dry cleanup or sweeping is prohibited. 9. All waste must be placed in a leak-tight waste container while wet, and the container must be labeled with the OSHA danger label. Unbagged waste must be kept wet until contained. Contain the waste as it is generated. 10. Maintain the waste intact.

OSHA Ceiling Tile Removal 11. Decontamination of workers and equipment should be done on a poly dropcloth adjacent to the work area. A HEPA vacuum must be used to clean protective clothing before it is removed. Amended water must be used to wipe down all reusable tools and equipment. 12. Glue-on ceiling tile will have “glue dots” on the substrate above the tile, which may be ACM. They can usually be chiseled off and the residue removed with a solvent. Do not grind the ACM glue dots.

EPA Rules on Ceiling Tile Removal ACM ceiling tile is usually considered a friable material. If the removal is in a NESHAP facility (public, commercial or industrial building or a house as an installation), and the amount of ACM ceiling tile is at least 160 square feet, or if there is any amount of ACM ceiling tile in a regulated NESHAP project, the removal is regulated as a renovation under the NESHAP and a 2 week notification is required before work starts. The work must be done adequately wet with amended water, the waste must be contained in leak-tight containers while wet, the containers must be labeled with both the OSHA and NESHAP labels, must be shipped with a Waste Shipment Record and must be disposed of at a NESHAP asbestos landfill. A certified Contractor/Supervisor must be on site at all times.