Lead Hazard Control Definitions
Abatement: (in reference to lead) Any measure(s) designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint hazards, including lead-contaminated dust or soil. Abatement includes, but is not limited to: the removal of paint, and dust, the permanent enclosure or encapsulation of lead-based paint, the replacement of painted surfaces or fixtures, or the removal or permanent covering of soil, when lead-based paint hazards are present in such paint, dust, or soil; and all preparation, cleanup, disposal, and post-abatement clearance testing activities associated with such measures.
Accessible surface: A surface that protrudes from the surrounding area to the extent that a child can chew the surface and is within three feet of the floor or ground (e.g. window sills, railing, and the edges of stair treads).
Accredited: Individuals have successfully completed a training program approved by the Virginia Board for Asbestos, Lead, and Home Inspectors to engage in asbestos abatement.
Action level: Employee exposure, without regard to the use of respirators, to an airborne concentration of lead of 30 micrograms per cubic meter calculated as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA).
Board: Refers to the Virginia Board for Asbestos, Lead, and Home Inspectors
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations
Child-occupied facility: A building, or portion of a building, constructed prior to 1978, visited regularly by the same child, sic years of age or under, on at least two different days, within any week, provided that each day's visit lasts at least three hours and the combined weekly visit lasts six hours, and the combined annual visits last at least 60 hours. Child-occupied facilities may include but are not limited to, day-care centers, preschools, and kindergarten classrooms.
Construction work: Work for construction, alteration and/or repair, painting and decorating, demolition or salvage, removal or encapsulation, installation of lead-containing products, transportation, disposal, storage, or containment of lead or lead-containing materials, maintenance operations associated with construction activities.
Deteriorated paint: Any interior or exterior paint that is peeling, chipping, chalking, flaking, cracking, or is otherwise separating from the substrate building component.
DOLI: Department of Labor and Industry.
DOPR: Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.
Dust clearance sampling: An on-site collection of dust or other debris that is present after the completion of a renovation to determine the presence of lead-based paint hazards and the provisions of a report explaining the results.
Employee exposure: That exposure to lead that would occur if the employee were not using respiratory protective equipment.
Encapsulation: The application of a substance that forms a barrier between lead-based paint and the environment using a liquid-applied coating (with or without reinforcement materials), or an adhesively bonded covering material.
Enclosure: The use of rigid, durable construction materials that are mechanically fastened to the substrate in order to act as a barrier between lead-based paint and the environment.
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency.
Friction surface: An interior or exterior surface that is subject to abrasion or friction (e.g. certain window, floor, and stair surfaces).
HEPA: High-Efficiency Particulate Air filtered equipment must be capable of trapping and retaining 99.97% of all particles larger than 0.3 microns.
Impact surface: An interior or exterior surface that is subject to damage from repeated impacts (e.g. certain parts of door frames).
Industrial hygienist: A professional qualified by education, training, and experience to recognize, evaluate, and develop control measures for occupational health hazards.
Lead: Metallic lead, all inorganic lead compounds, and organic lead soaps. Excluded from this OSHA definition are all other organic lead compounds.
Lead-based paint: Paint or other surface coatings that contain lead equal to or in excess of 1.0 milligrams per square centimeter (1.0 mg/cm2) or more than 0.5 percent by weight.
Lead-Based paint activity: Lead inspection, lead risk assessment, lead project design, and abatement of lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards, including lead-containing dust and lead-contaminated soil.
Lead-based paint free: Target housing that has been found to be free of paint or other surface coatings that contain lead equal to, or in excess of, 1.0 milligram per square centimeter, or 0.5 percent by weight.
Lead-based paint hazard: Any condition that causes exposure to lead from lead-contaminated dust, lead-contaminated soil, or lead-contaminated paint that is deteriorated or present inaccessible surfaces, friction surfaces, or impact surfaces that would result in adverse human health effects as identified by EPA.
Lead-contaminated dust: Surface dust that contains an area or mass concentration of lead at or in excess of levels identified by the EPA.
Lead-contaminated soil: Bare soil that contains lead at or in excess of levels identified by the EPA.
Lead inspection: A surface-by-surface investigation to determine the presence of lead-based paint and the provisions of a report explaining the results of the investigation.
Lead inspector: An individual who has been licensed by the Board to conduct lead inspections and abatement clearance testing.
Lead project: Any lead-related activity which requires the contractor performing such activity to be licensed by the Board.
Lead risk assessor: An individual who has been licensed by the Board to conduct lead inspections, lead risk assessments, and abatement clearance testing.
Licensee: Any person, as defined by the Code of Virginia, who has been issued and holds a currently valid license as a lead abatement worker, lead abatement supervisor, lead inspector, lead risk assessor, lead project designer, or lead abatement contractor.
Medical surveillance: A periodic comprehensive review of a worker's health status.
NIOSH: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Primary functions are to conduct research, issue technical information, and test and certify respirators.
OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, administered in Virginia by the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI).
Paint in poor condition: More than ten square feet of deteriorated paint on exterior components with large surface areas; or more than two square feet of deteriorated paint on interior components with large surface areas (e.g. walls, ceilings, floors, doors); or more than ten percent of the total surface area of the component has deteriorated on the interior or exterior components with small surface area (e.g. window sills, baseboards, soffits, trim).
PEL (Permissible Exposure Limit): The highest allowable level of exposure to lead in the air that an employee may be permissibly exposed over an eight-hour workday, without using respiratory protection, as stated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). With regards to lead, the employer shall ensure that no employee is exposed to lead concentration in excess of 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air averaged over an 8-hour period.
Personal air samples: An air sample taken with a sampling pump directly attached to the worker with the collecting filter and cassette placed in the worker's breathing zone. These samples are required by the OSHA asbestos standards and the EPA Worker Protection Rule.
Personal protective equipment: Any material or device worn to protect a worker from exposure to, or contact with, any harmful material or force. PPE should be used only if engineering or administrative controls are insufficient to protect against a hazard.
Renovation: Altering, in any way, one or more facility components.
Residential dwelling: (1) Target housing that is a detached single-family dwelling, or (2) target housing that is a single-family dwelling unit in a structure that contains more than one separate residential dwelling unit, which is occupied, or intended to be occupied, in whole or in part, as the home or residence of one or more individuals.
Respiratory protection: A device worn to either purify the air or that provides clean air from another source to the wearer. All respirator users must be enrolled in Virginia Tech's Respiratory Protection Program and must have received appropriate training on respirator use, care, and maintenance.
Risk assessment: (1) An on-site investigation to determine the existence, nature, severity, and location of lead-based paint hazards, and (2) the provision of a report by the individual or firm conducting the assessment, explaining the results of the investigation and options for reducing lead-based hazards.
Target housing: Any housing constructed prior to 1978, except housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities (unless one or more children age 6 years or under resides, or is expected to reside in such housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities), or any zero-bedroom dwelling (e.g. barracks, dormitories, studio apartments, lofts).
TCLP - Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure: an EPA test used to characterize waste streams (for lead) as either hazardous or non-hazardous for the purpose of disposal.
TWA - Time-weighted average: In air sampling, this refers to the average air concentration of contaminants during a particular sampling period (typically 8 hours).
XRF analyzer - X-ray fluorescence spectrometer: A handheld unit used to identify and analyze the elemental composition of materials for the presence and quantity of lead in paint layers, for example.