ASBESTOS REGULATIONS

OSHA and EPA together govern the nation’s asbestos regulations

October 7, 2010 – Prior to government intervention and Congressional enactment of worksite asbestos regulations some 25 years ago, thousands of workers endured occupational asbestos exposure on a daily basis and died of asbestos-related diseases like asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Asbestos kills 10,000 individuals in the United States and 90,000 people worldwide every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In 1986, Congress enacted the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) to protect workers in all trades from occupational asbestos exposure.

AHERA asbestos regulations are enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its many regional offices.

Two agencies enforce asbestos regulations

The EPA and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulate asbestos-containing materials in the workplace and enforce the laws governing the handling of this extremely toxic material.

OSHA and EPA asbestos regulations are intertwined. But despite this strict two-prong approach to enforcing asbestos regulations, occupational asbestos exposure is still a very real threat to today’s industrial workers.

OSHA estimates that 1.3 million employees in high-risk trades (such as the construction, automotive and maritime industries) still face asbestos exposure dangers on the job.

Heaviest exposures occur in the construction industry, especially during renovation or demolition projects when the removal of old asbestos-based building materials is required. Autoworkers place themselves at risk during brake and clutch repair work. And shipyard workers have died by the thousands from maritime industry asbestos exposure.

Recent asbestos regulations

On July 12, 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule banning most asbestos materials and regulated asbestos products. But in 1991, this rule was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Asbestos is no longer mined in the United States, but it is still imported and used in the construction and automobile industries. Contributing to New York asbestos dangers, large quantities of asbestos-based building products still remain in public buildings and homes built before the 1980s.

Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. – The Workers’ Champion

Many workers exposed to asbestos decades ago are being diagnosed today, in their retirement years, with life-threatening diseases that include: mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer. That’s because asbestos-related diseases typically take 20 to 50 years to develop before recognizable symptoms appear.

Weitz & Luxenberg’s Asbestos Litigation Unit is a national legal force, recognized across the nation for obtaining record-setting multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of workers injured by occupational asbestos exposure and disease.

If you worked professionally with asbestos-based products and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestosis, you may be eligible to receive significant financial compensation. For a free review of your case, please use the communication form on this page and a representative from our firm will respond quickly.