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Current Best Practices for Preventing Asbestos Exposure Among Brake and Clutch Repair Workers - Text Version
- Who can this information help?
- What is asbestos and how can it cause health problems?
- Why should mechanics be concerned about asbestos exposure?
- How do I know if I have asbestos brake or clutch components?
- As a professional automotive technician, what work practices must I follow to reduce potential exposures to asbestos?
- As a home mechanic, what can I do to protect myself from asbestos exposure?
- How do I dispose of waste containing asbestos?
- Where can I get additional information?
Who can this information
help?
This information can help professional automotive technicians and home
mechanics who repair and replace brakes and clutches. By law, most professional
automotive shops must follow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s(OSHA)
regulations at 29
CFR 1910.1001 and specifically paragraph (f)(3) and Appendix
F. These are mandatory measures that employers must implement for
automotive brake and clutch inspection, disassembly, repair, and assembly
operations. State and local governments with employees who perform brake
and clutch work in states without OSHA-approved state plans must follow
the identical regulations found under the EPA Asbestos Worker Protection
Rule (Subpart G of 40 CFR 763). While
home mechanics are not required to follow the OSHA work practices (or
the identical requirements under the EPA Asbestos Worker Protection
Rule), by using these practices home mechanics can minimize potential
exposure to asbestos if it is present and thereby reduce their risk
of developing any asbestos-related diseases.
What is asbestos and how can it
cause health problems?
Asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral fiber that is highly heat resistant,
can cause serious health problems when inhaled into the lungs. If products
containing asbestos are disturbed, thin, lightweight asbestos fibers
can be released into the air. Persons breathing the air may breathe
in asbestos fibers. Continued exposure can increase the amount of fibers
deposited in the lung. Fibers embedded in the lung tissue over time
may result in lung diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma.
Symptoms may not appear for years, even decades, after exposure to asbestos
fibers. Smoking increases the risk of developing asbestosis and lung
cancer.
Why should mechanics be concerned
about asbestos exposure?
Because some, but not all, automotive brakes and clutches available
or in use today may contain asbestos, professional automotive technicians
and home mechanics who repair and replace brakes and clutches may be
exposed to asbestos dust. Brake and clutch dust can be seen when a brake
disk, drum, clutch cover, or the wheel is removed from a car, truck,
or other equipment. There are also many small dust particles that cannot
be seen with the eye. If the brakes contain asbestos, the dust may contain
asbestos fibers, which could be inhaled.
How do I know if I have asbestos
brake or clutch components?
You cannot tell whether brake or clutch components contain asbestos
simply by looking at them. For newer vehicles and parts, auto manufacturers,
auto parts retailers and packaging information, such as labels or Material
Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), may be able to tell you whether or not your
brake or clutch components contain asbestos. For older vehicles,or vehicles
that have had brakes replaced, you may not be able to easily find out
if the brake or clutch components contain asbestos.
OSHA states that mechanics should assume that all brakes have asbestos-type shoes. Worn non-asbestos-type brakes cannot be readily distinguished from asbestos-type shoes. If a mechanic incorrectly assumes that a shoe is a non-asbestos type and fails to utilize brake dust control procedures, increased asbestos exposure may result.
As a professional automotive
technician, what work practices must I follow to reduce potential exposures
to asbestos?
If you work in a commercial automotive shop that performs work on more
than five pairs of brakes or five clutches per week, OSHA regulations
require the use of one of the following work practices or an equivalent
method such as the spray can/solvent system:
- Negative-Pressure Enclosure/HEPA Vacuum System Method: This
type of enclosure and vacuum system has a special box with clear plastic
walls or windows, which fits tightly around a brake or clutch assembly
to prevent asbestos exposure.
- Low Pressure/Wet Cleaning Method: This specially designed low-pressure spray equipment wets down the brake assembly and catches the runoff in a special basin to prevent airborne brake dust from spreading in the work area.
If you work in a commercial automotive shop that performs work on no more than five pairs of brakes or five clutches per week, OSHA regulations allow the following method instead:
- Wet Wipe Method: This method involves using a spray bottle or other device capable of delivering a fine mist of water, or amended water (water with a detergent), at low pressure to wet all brake and clutch parts. The brakes can then be wiped clean with a cloth.
As a home mechanic, what can I do
to protect myself from asbestos exposure?
If you are not able to determine whether your brakes or clutch contain
asbestos, you may want to consider having your brakes or clutch serviced
at a commercial automotive shop. As noted above, OSHA requires special
work practices for professional automotive technicians. If, however,this
is not possible and you do not have access to the equipment professional
automotive shops use to comply with the OSHA work practices, you may
want to consider using the wet wipe method described in this brochure
(www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/standards.html
). This method has been deemed acceptable by OSHA for shops that service
no more than five brakes or clutches per week.
Work Practice Don'ts for Home Mechanics: It is recommended that you:
Work Practice Do's: It is recommended that you:
- Shower and change before going inside the home and keep food and drinks out of the work area.
- Keep bystanders away from the work area.
How do I dispose of waste containing
asbestos?
Employers of professional automotive technicians must ensure that
they or their waste haulers dispose of waste that contains brake or
clutch dust, including wet rags used to wipe this dust, in accordance
with Federal and local regulations, including the OSHA asbestos waste
disposal regulations. Brake and clutch dust and other asbestos waste
must be collected and disposed of in sealed, impermeable containers
that are appropriately labeled (29 CFR 1910.1001(k)(6) and 29 CFR 1910.1001(j)(4)).
These regulations do not apply to home mechanics. For home mechanics,
EPA recommends that asbestos waste be double bagged and taken to a landfill
that accepts asbestos waste. Check with your state department of health
or local solid waste department to find an appropriate landfill. You
may contact your state asbestos representative for more information
( http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/statecontact.pdf
(PDF) (16 pp., 172K, About
PDF)).
Where can I get additional information?
OSHA has issued a Safety and Health Information Bulletin on brake and clutch repair that is available at http://www.osha.gov/dts/shib/shib072606.html.
EPA Asbestos Worker Protection Rule regulations apply to certain state and local government employees at (40 CFR Part 763, Subpart G).
For more information on EPA's asbestos program please
visit http://www.epa.gov/asbestos
or call 202-554-1404.