Asbestos Safety Training

What Is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral fiber with properties that made it incredibly popular as a building material for decades.

Despite its useful qualities, like heat resistance and fiber strength, asbestos exposure proved to be very dangerous for anyone who worked with or around it. The fibers are tiny and durable, so it’s easy to breathe them in. They get deep in the lungs and get stuck there, causing scarring, loss of lung function, susceptibility to infectious disease, and an increased risk of lung cancer.

As a result, the U.S. banned asbestos manufacturing in 1980, along with high-risk asbestos products. Asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) were never fully banned, but lawsuits discouraged companies from importing or using them.

What Are the OSHA Regulations for Asbestos?

OSHA has two asbestos safety standards – one for General Industry (§1910.1001) and one for Construction (§1926.1101).

Both require workers’ asbestos exposure to be monitored, as well as medical surveillance, a recordkeeping system, and mandatory asbestos training to make workers aware of the hazards and safety precautions they need to take. 

The standards also lay out various rules about engineering controls, work practices, personal protective equipment (PPE), and ACM disposal that must be followed in order to keep workers and the general public safe from asbestos exposure.

What Is Online Asbestos Training?

Asbestos training online can mean a few things.

There’s OSHA asbestos training, also known as asbestos awareness or general awareness. OSHA requires you to complete one of their asbestos training courses once a year if you have an exposure risk.  

The other kind is asbestos removal training or asbestos abatement training. This is sometimes referred to as asbestos certification or an asbestos certificate. Depending on the level of training, this may qualify you to perform asbestos inspection and testing, removal, or abatement operations that eliminate the threat of asbestos exposure.

How Can I Obtain an Asbestos Certification?

To get certified as an asbestos professional, you need asbestos removal training from an EPA- or state-approved training provider. The length of the course will vary based on the extent of the work you’ll be qualified to do, but you should expect the program to take at least two days.

Once you have your asbestos certificate of completion for the course, you’ll probably need to apply for a state-issued license that qualifies you to do asbestos work.