Construction Safety and Permissible Exposure Levels
During construction safety training, the key concept is probably obvious in the title of the training. If you have training on fall protection, your employees know they’ll learn about steps to protect them from falls. Other concepts might bring up a lot of questions during training. For instance training on Permissible Exposure Levels (PELs) might bring up several questions or cause lot of confusion. The construction worker might wonder what they could be exposed to. And, what constitutes an exposure. And, the levels of exposure that are permissible. Learn more about PELs and why safety training on PELs deserves your attention.
An exposure is when an individual comes into contact with a substance that is potentially harmful to humans. Exposure levels measure how much substances the individual has come into contact with. OSHA, industrial hygienists, and safety organizations have determined acceptable levels of exposure to certain substances. Harmful substances can be in the air or substances that can be physically touched. Standards set by OSHA recommend how much exposure one can have of a harmful substance during an eight-hour shift. So, if you use OSHA’s recommendations, you’ll have to adjust the numbers if your construction employees work longer shifts.
There are a lot of variables to consider when dealing with PELs. Does the task take place indoors or outdoors at the job site? How will employees be monitored? Will you need to do screenings to check for exposure levels? The first step is to identify which substances your workers come into contact with. Then, check to see if they are considered PELs. Then, refer to OSHA’s standards about how to best monitor and mitigate the effects of the substance.
PELs are often an overlooked concept in construction safety. Providing information on PELs that your employees regularly come into contact with is an important training piece. Safety is a critical component to your construction enterprise, and PELs will impact the overall health, safety and productivity of your construction crew.
