History of Asbestos Regulation in the Workplace

In 1971, OSHA began modifying the limits of exposure; as awareness of the dangers of asbestos continued to rise, exposure was significantly lowered. The scientific, medical, and labor communities (especially the AFL-CIO) played a huge role in pushing these regulations by OSHA, EPA, and the Consumer Safety Product Commission. Currently, all industrial countries control asbestos exposure in the workplace.

As more information has become recognized, OSHA has strengthened asbestos regulations. Because both OSHA and EPA issue regulations on asbestos, they do their best to make their regulations as congruent as possible.

In 1975, due to developments in monitoring and protective technology, OSHA proposed the decrease of asbestos levels in the workplace given the conclusive evidence of its deadly consequences. The proposal would affect all industries except construction.

Because no proposal was created for the construction industry, the Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health authorized OSHA's position that rules implemented into general industry should also apply to the construction industry. As evidence of the dangers of asbestos continued to surface, more limitations were created.

November 1983 – OSHA published an ETS for asbestos that further lowered the limit. The ETS marked a new regulatory initiative, related to, but not part of the 1975 proceeding. The U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled this ETS invalid.

April 1984 – OSHA published a notice of proposed rulemaking for a standard covering occupational exposure to asbestos in all workplaces it has authority over. The previous ETS was proposed as the formal regulation.

1986 -- OSHA issued two revised standards, one governing occupational exposure to asbestos in general industry workplaces, the other applicable to construction workplaces. These revised standards amended OSHA's previous asbestos standard issued in 1972. These standards explicitly applied to occupational exposure to non-asbestiform tremolite, anthophyllite and actinolite. After a subsequent and separate rulemaking proceeding OSHA deleted these minerals from the scope of the asbestos standards.

While the standards for general industry and construction remained separate, they shared the same permissible exposure limit and most ancillary requirements. Rare hazards concerning asbestos abatement and demolition jobs required particular stipulations which were added to the construction standard.

A federal court sustained most of the provisions, despite challenging of the revised standards. OSHA's failure to adopt a short-term exposure limit (STEL) was demanded to be reconsidered within 60 days of the Court's mandate.

The Environmental Protection Agency held a series of "Policy Dialogue" meetings in 1989 and 1990 under the demand of the labor community. This was an effort to come to an understanding on issues regarding asbestos in public and commercial buildings. These meetings were comprised of real estate developers, banks, insurance companies, unions, asbestos manufacturers, public interest groups, and asbestos consultants and contractors. Although they did not have the same opinion on every issue, they were in wholehearted agreement about workers’ awareness of the presence of asbestos.

In January 1990, OSHA prohibited cigarette smoking in areas of occupational asbestos exposure. Employers were also required to establish employee awareness of warning signs through specific training programs.

The labor community insisted that OSHA establish a building inspection rule, due to slack regulations. In November 1992, OSHA announced a reconsideration of policies, particularly concerning the protection of building workers. This was partially a reaction to the lawsuit brought by Service Employees International Union against the EPA. The agency then created the following requirements:

Workers and construction managers must presume that certain materials in accessible building/facility areas contain asbestos. While working in these areas, workers must treat these unknown materials as if they contained asbestos and use necessary precautions. If it can be shown that the material is not asbestos by chemical analysis or by historical information in the owner's possession about the original construction, work procedures for asbestos do not have to be followed.

In August 1994, the standards were again restructured, cutting exposure in half for nearly 4 million workers.

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