Overview

• Who Plans the Toolbox Talks
• What to Plan
• When to Hold Toolbox Talks

Section 3: Topics and Worksheets

• Health Effects of Lead
  
• Engineering and Work Practice Controls
  
• Air Purifying Respirators
  
• Blood Lead Monitoring
  
• Monitoring for Lead Exposure

Overview

Toolbox Talks are a good and effective ways to communicate safe work practices for lead generating activities and to reinforce jobsite training. OSHA requires construction employers to have hazard communication and accident prevention programs that include worker training on hazard awareness and controls. The Lead in Construction Standard also requires that workers receive training in the contents of the lead standard and lead hazard awareness training. Toolbox Talks help satisfy these requirements.

• Make the topic site specific
• Use actual examples form the site to illustrate the topic
• Involve workers in a brief discussion about the topic
• Reinforce best safety and health practices

Overview of the Guide

— This Guide will elaborate on these tasks —

Planning

Who plans theToolbox Talks

• Health & Safety Committee
• Company Health & Safety Department
• Site Health & Safety Officer

• Do a quick inspection and focus on site conditions that illustrate the topic.
• Use the Planning Checklist below.
• See the Toolbox Talks for Lead worksheets in Section 3.
• Use these worksheets to prepare for each individual topic.
• Handout copies of the completed worksheet during the talk.
  

When to hold toolbox talks

• Meetings are generally held weekly but may be held more frequently, if necessary
• The meetings are brief – 5 to 15 minutes.

Safety Meeting Planning Checklist

Item	Coments
Select the topic	Make sure it relates to the site; review site activities and conditions
Prepare a Handout	Use the worksheets in Section 3 as examples. Add site specific activities and concerns to illustrate the topic, and discussion questions.
Pick a Time	Establish a regular day and time, usually at the beginning of the shift.
Pick a Location	Use a space that is quiet and away from distracting activities. Meeting participants should be able to hear, ask questions, and participate in discussions.
Inform Workers the Day Before	Time, place, topic
Language	Be sure that all Toolbox Talks are given in words and a language that workers can understand. Use translators if needed.

Conducting Toolbox Talks
Who should conduct the Toolbox Talks?

• Supervisors, foremen, and union stewards are the best people to help plan and deliver Toolbox Talks.
• At times, others with a particular expertise or interest, like the company safety officer, project staff, insurance representative, or industrial hygienist may be recruited to lead a talk.
  

Use the completed worksheet for the talk. Read it directly or use the high-lighted points as discussion starters. It’s a matter of style. Some people are more comfortable reading the sheet and others like to use their own words. Use the filled in worksheet for a handout and encourage workers to participate. Be prepared to follow up on issues that arise. See the Toolbox Talk Tips below.

Topics and Worksheets

This section contains five worksheets for Lead Toolbox Talks. Each worksheet contains general information on the topic, places to fill in site specific information, and suggested discussion questions. A suggested schedule for giving each topic is listed in the chart below. Keep in mind that Toolbox Talks are intended as updates and reminders – not as a replacement for training. All of these topics should be covered in the initial lead orientation training.

TOOLBOX TALK WORKSHEET:
HEALTH EFFECTS OF LEAD EXPOSURE

You get lead into your body by breathing it in or by swallowing it. Lead particles do not go through the skin, but if lead dust is on your hands it can be accidentally swallowed while eating, drinking, or smoking.

Lead is hazardous when it gets into the bloodstream where it can move around the body. High exposures over a short period of time or lower exposures spread out over longer time periods can cause lead poisoning. Lead can damage the brain and nervous system, kidneys, and reproductive systems. Lead also contributes to high blood pressure. Most of the absorbed lead is eventually stored in the bones where it may stay for decades. Under certain conditions, the lead stored in the bone may leach slowly into the bloodstream.

The early effects of lead poisoning are not specific and resemble the flu symptoms. Short term and long term effects of lead overexposure are listed below.

Lead poisoning is preventable. Many of the health problems caused by lead exposure are reversible if exposure is eliminated or reduced.

SHORT TERM EFFECTS	LONG TERM EFFECTS
stomach cramps	high blood pressure
poor appetite	nerve disorders
irritability/anxiety	brain damage
fatigue	kidney damage
muscle or joint pain	reproductive damage
weakness	birth defects
headache
numbness
constipation
sleep problems
impotence/loss of sex drive

Group Question: Do you know anybody who has ever suffered from lead poisoning? Please describe what
happened. If you have had symptoms of lead poisoning, what were they?

TOOLBOX TALK WORKSHEET:
ENGINEERING & WORK PRACTICE CONTROLS

Engineering and work practice controls are required to minimize lead exposure. A compliance program must be written by the employer to describe controls used on each job. Common engineering and work practice controls include:

• removal of paint before torch cutting, grinding, rivet busting, or other lead-emitting tasks
  
• vacuum shrouded power tools - grinders, scalers, needle guns
  
• vacuum blasters for spot paint removal
  
• chemical paint strippers
  
• power saws and shears for dismantling steel instead of torches
  
• cleaning work area with HEPA vacuums
  
• wet methods to reduce dust

Group question: How is dust lead and fume controlled on this site?

If there is a dust control method for your work use it. If your work requires a respirator, wear it.

Group question: Does anyone have any questions or comments about lead exposure or control methods at the site?

Toolbox Talk Worksheet: Air Purifying Respirators

Respirators must be used whenever engineering and work practice controls fail to reduce the lead level below the PEL or before an exposure assessment has been completed. Employers are responsible for supplying properly selected and fitted respirators.

Respirators should be put on before entering the work area and should only be removed in a clean area. Fit testing is done at the beginning of the job and every year thereafter. The employer must set up a respirator program which includes:

• Written program
  
• Respirator Program Manager
  
• Proper selection of respirators
  
• Medical evaluation for all users
  
• Training — annual
  
• Fit Testing — annual
  
• Regular inspection, cleaning, maintenance
  
• NIOSH approved respirator
  
• Frequent evaluation of the program

FILTER AND CHEMICAL CARTRIDGE COLOR CODES

Group question: What jobs do you need to wear respirators for?

Respirator Reminders

• Always wear your respirator when doing lead work or working near others who are.
  
• Check the facepiece seal each time you put on the respirator. Do positive and negative pressure checks.
  
• Make sure you use P-100 filters (the pink or purple ones). Get replacement filters and other spare parts from:_____________________ .
  
• Change your filters whenever it is hard to breathe through them or if they are dirty or damaged.
  
• Keep your respirator clean. Wash it with warm soap and water and let it air dry. In the field, use respirator wipes. Each foreman has some at each gang box or respirator cleaning area.
  
• Store your respirator in a clean container when you are not using it. Sturdy plastic bags or rigid containers are best.
  
• Be clean shaven – this keeps a good seal between the face and the mask.
  
• If you have any problem with your respirator, report to your supervisor and get it fixed. Go to a clean area before you take off your respirator.
  
• Never wear a dust mask when doing lead tasks!

Toolbox Talk Worksheet: Blood Lead Monitoring

All workers exposed to the action level for even one day must have blood lead level (BLL) and either zinc
protoporphyrin (ZPP) or free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP) tests. A blood lead test is a good indicator of lead exposure in the previous 2-3 weeks. The ZPP/FEP can indicate high lead exposure over the previous 2-3 months. OSHA requires that blood tests be taken every two months, but many occupational physicians recommend that blood tests be repeated monthly.

INTERPRETING BLOOD TEST RESULTS
Test results are given in micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (mcg/dl). Normal blood lead levels in urban areas are below 10 mcg/dl. Levels above normal indicate exposure to lead as follows:

• < 10 mcg/dl - background
  
• 10 - 25 mcg/dl - elevated
  
• 26-49 mcg/dl - high exposure
  
• > or equal to 50 mcg/dl - medical removal

Toolbox Talk Worksheet: Monitoring for Lead Exposure

Air monitoring is the best way to evaluate worker exposure to lead dust and fume. We will be doing air monitoring for the different tasks at this site from time to time.

• Air monitoring equipment includes a small air pump, tubing, and a filter.
  
• An industrial hygienist (IH) clips the pump to your belt and positions the filter on your upper chest. This is called a breathing zone sample.
  
• If the IH asks you to wear the pump, it is important to cooperate.
  
• The IH will advise you to work normally and will periodically check the pump. Sometimes the IH will change the filter.
  
• If the pump interferes with your work or the pump malfunctions, let the IH know.

The first air monitoring date is:______________________
These activities will be monitored: ____________________

Group questions: Has anyone here ever worn an air monitoring pump? Can you tell the group what it was like?

Air monitoring results.

• At the end of the shift, the IH will send the filter to a special laboratory.
  
• The lab will measure how much lead is on the filter.
  
• These results will be compared to the exposure limits for lead.
  
• The results will be used to pick controls for the activity and to make sure that the right respirator is used.
  
• The lab usually takes about 1-2 weeks to do the measurement and send the results.
  
• Monitored workers will receive results within 5 days of receipt by company from IH consultant
  
• We will post the results and go over them in a Toolbox meeting when we get them.

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