1926.1127 Cadmium

This standard applies to all occupational exposures to cadmium and cadmium compounds, in all forms, in all construction work where an employee may potentially be exposed to cadmium. Construction work is defined as work involving construction, alteration and/or repair, including but not limited to the following:

Wrecking, demolition or salvage of structures where cadmium or materials containing cadmium are present;

Use of cadmium containing-paints and cutting, brazing, burning, grinding or welding on surfaces that were painted with cadmium-containing paints;

Construction, alteration, repair, maintenance, or renovation of structures, substrates, or portions thereof, that contain cadmium, or materials containing cadmium;

Cadmium welding; cutting and welding cadmium-plated steel; brazing or welding with cadmium alloys;

Installation of products containing cadmium;

Electrical grounding with cadmium welding, or electrical work using cadmium-coated conduit;

Maintaining or retrofitting cadmium-coated equipment;

Cadmium contamination/emergency cleanup; and

Transportation, disposal, storage, or containment of cadmium or materials containing cadmium on the site or location at which construction activities are performed.

"Action level (AL)" is defined as an airborne concentration of cadmium of 2.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air (2.5 µg/m³), calculated as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA).

"Assistant Secretary" means the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, or designee.

"Authorized person" means any person authorized by the employer and required by work duties to be present in regulated areas or any person authorized by the OSH Act or regulations issued under it to be in regulated areas.

"Competent person," in accordance with 29 CFR 1926.32(f), means a person designated by the employer to act on the employer's behalf who is capable of identifying existing and potential cadmium hazards in the workplace and the proper methods to control them in order to protect workers, and has the authority necessary to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate or control such hazards. The duties of a competent person include at least the following: Determining prior to the performance of work whether cadmium is present in the workplace; establishing, where necessary, regulated areas and assuring that access to and from those areas is limited to authorized employees; assuring the adequacy of any employee exposure monitoring required by this standard; assuring that all employees exposed to air cadmium levels above the PEL wear appropriate personal protective equipment and are trained in the use of appropriate methods of exposure control; assuring that proper hygiene facilities are provided and that workers are trained to use those facilities; and assuring that the engineering controls required by this standard are implemented, maintained in proper operating condition, and functioning properly.

"Director" means the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or designee.

"Employee exposure" and similar language referring to the air cadmium level to which an employee is exposed means the exposure to airborne cadmium that would occur if the employee were not using respiratory protective equipment.

"Final medical determination" is the written medical opinion of the employee's health status by the examining physician under paragraphs (l)(3)-(12) of this section or, if multiple physician review under paragraph (l)(13) of this section or the alternative physician determination under paragraph (l)(14) of this section is invoked, it is the final, written medical finding, recommendation or determination that emerges from that process.

"High-efficiency Particulate Air [HEPA] filter" means a filter capable of trapping and retaining at least 99.97 percent of mono-dispersed particles of 0.3 micrometers in diameter.

"Regulated area" means an area demarcated by the employer where an employee's exposure to airborne concentrations of cadmium exceeds, or can reasonably be expected to exceed the permissible exposure limit (PEL).

"This section" means this cadmium standard.

The employer shall assure that no employee is exposed to an airborne concentration of cadmium in excess of five micrograms per cubic meter of air (5 ug/m³), calculated as an eight-hour time-weighted average exposure (TWA).

Prior to the performance of any construction work where employees may be potentially exposed to cadmium, the employer shall establish the applicability of this standard by determining whether cadmium is present in the workplace and whether there is the possibility that employee exposures will be at or above the action level. The employer shall designate a competent person who shall make this determination. Investigation and material testing techniques shall be used, as appropriate, in the determination. Investigation shall include a review of relevant plans, past reports, material safety data sheets, and other available records, and consultations with the property owner and discussions with appropriate individuals and agencies.

Determinations of employee exposure shall be made from breathing-zone air samples that reflect the monitored employee's regular, daily 8-hour TWA exposure to cadmium.

Eight-hour TWA exposures shall be determined for each employee on the basis of one or more personal breathing-zone air samples reflecting full shift exposure on each shift, for each job classification, in each work area. Where several employees perform the same job tasks, in the same job classification, on the same shift, in the same work area, and the length, duration, and level of cadmium exposures are similar, an employer may sample a representative fraction of the employees instead of all employees in order to meet this requirement. In representative sampling, the employer shall sample the employee(s) expected to have the highest cadmium exposures.

Where cadmium has been determined to be present in the workplace, and it has been determined that there is a possibility the employee's exposure will be at or above the action level, the competent person shall identify employees potentially exposed to cadmium at or above the action level.

Initial monitoring. Except as provided for in paragraph (d)(2)(iii) of this section, where a determination conducted under paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section shows the possibility of employee exposure to cadmium at or above the action level, the employer shall conduct exposure monitoring as soon as practicable that is representative of the exposure for each employee in the workplace who is or may be exposed to cadmium at or above the action level.

Where the employer has objective data, as defined in paragraph (n)(2) of this section, demonstrating that employee exposure to cadmium will not exceed airborne concentrations at or above the action level under the expected conditions of processing, use, or handling, the employer may rely upon such data instead of implementing initial monitoring.

Where a determination conducted under paragraphs (d)(1) or (d)(2) of this section is made that a potentially exposed employee is not exposed to airborne concentrations of cadmium at or above the action level, the employer shall make a written record of such determination. The record shall include at least the monitoring data developed under paragraphs (d)(2)(i) - (iii) of this section, where applicable, and shall also include the date of determination, and the name and social security number of each employee.

In addition, if the employee periodically performs tasks that may expose the employee to a higher concentration of airborne cadmium, the employee shall be monitored while performing those tasks.

If the initial monitoring or periodic monitoring reveals employee exposures to be at or above the action level, the employer shall monitor at a frequency and pattern needed to assure that the monitoring results reflect with reasonable accuracy the employee's typical exposure levels, given the variability in the tasks performed, work practices, and environmental conditions on the job site, and to assure the adequacy of respiratory selection and the effectiveness of engineering and work practice controls.

If the initial monitoring or the periodic monitoring indicates that employee exposures are below the action level and that result is confirmed by the results of another monitoring taken at least seven days later, the employer may discontinue the monitoring for those employees whose exposures are represented by such monitoring.

The employer also shall institute the exposure monitoring required under paragraphs (d)(2)(i) and (d)(3) of this section whenever there has been a change in the raw materials, equipment, personnel, work practices, or finished products that may result in additional employees being exposed to cadmium at or above the action level or in employees already exposed to cadmium at or above the action level being exposed above the PEL, or whenever the employer or competent person has any reason to suspect that any other change might result in such further exposure.

The employer must, as soon as possible but no later than 5 working days after the receipt of the results of any monitoring performed under this section, notify each affected employee of these results either individually in writing or by posting the results in an appropriate location that is accessible to employees.

Wherever monitoring results indicate that employee exposure exceeds the PEL, the employer shall include in the written notice a statement that the PEL has been exceeded and a description of the corrective action being taken by the employer to reduce employee exposure to or below the PEL.

The employer shall use a method of monitoring and analysis that has an accuracy of not less than plus or minus 25 percent (+ or - 25 percent), with a confidence level of 95 percent, for airborne concentrations of cadmium at or above the action level and the permissible exposure limit.

The employer shall establish a regulated area wherever an employee's exposure to airborne concentrations of cadmium is, or can reasonably be expected to be in excess of the permissible exposure limit (PEL).

Regulated areas shall be demarcated from the rest of the workplace in any manner that adequately establishes and alerts employees of the boundaries of the regulated area, including employees who are or may be incidentally in the regulated areas, and that protects persons outside the area from exposure to airborne concentrations of cadmium in excess of the PEL.

Access to regulated areas shall be limited to authorized persons.

Each person entering a regulated area shall be supplied with and required to use a respirator, selected in accordance with paragraph (g)(2) of this section.

The employer shall assure that employees do not eat, drink, smoke, chew tobacco or gum, or apply cosmetics in regulated areas, or carry the products associated with any of these activities into regulated areas or store such products in those areas.

Except as specified in paragraph (f)(1)(ii) of this section, the employer shall implement engineering and work practice controls to reduce and maintain employee exposure to cadmium at or below the PEL, except to the extent that the employer can demonstrate that such controls are not feasible.

Wherever engineering and work practice controls are not sufficient to reduce employee exposure to or below the PEL, the employer nonetheless shall implement such controls to reduce exposures to the lowest levels achievable. The employer shall supplement such controls with respiratory protection that complies with the requirements of paragraph (g) of this section and the PEL.

The employer shall not use employee rotation as a method of compliance.

The requirement to implement engineering controls to achieve the PEL does not apply where the employer demonstrates the following:

The employee is only intermittently exposed; and

The employee is not exposed above the PEL on 30 or more days per year (12 consecutive months).

Abrasive blasting on cadmium or cadmium-containing materials shall be conducted in a manner that will provide adequate protection.

Welding, cutting, and other forms of heating of cadmium or cadmium-containing materials shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements of 29 CFR 1926.353 and 29 CFR 1926.354, where applicable.

High speed abrasive disc saws and similar abrasive power equipment shall not be used for work on cadmium or cadmium-containing materials unless they are equipped with appropriate engineering controls to minimize emissions, if the exposure levels are above the PEL.

Materials containing cadmium shall not be applied by spray methods, if exposures are above the PEL, unless employees are protected with supplied-air respirators with full facepiece, hood, helmet, suit, operated in positive pressure mode and measures are instituted to limit overspray and prevent contamination of adjacent areas.

When ventilation is used to control exposure, measurements that demonstrate the effectiveness of the system in controlling exposure, such as capture velocity, duct velocity, or static pressure shall be made as necessary to maintain its effectiveness.

If air from exhaust ventilation is recirculated into the workplace, the system shall have a high efficiency filter and be monitored to assure effectiveness.

Procedures shall be developed and implemented to minimize employee exposure to cadmium when maintenance of ventilation systems and changing of filters is being conducted.

Measurements of the system's effectiveness in controlling exposure shall be made as necessary within five working days of any change in production, process, or control that might result in a significant increase in employee exposure to cadmium.