Free Guides Aimed at Controlling Health Hazards in the Construction Industry

July 21, 2004
The Mount Sinai-Hunter College Blueprint Project has published new guides for managing lead and silica control programs in the construction industry.

The guides are available free through the Blueprint Project Web site and are aimed for use by construction managers, site safety officers and other health and safety professionals. "Guides for Managing Lead Control Programs in Construction" and "Guides for Managing Crystalline Silica Control Programs in Construction" provide a step-by-step approach to planning, implementing and evaluating control programs in a construction environment. Individual guides have been developed for exposure assessment, engineering and work practice controls, blood lead monitoring, respirator protection, supervisor safety meetings and worker toolbox talks.

Each guide contains relevant forms, checklists and information sheets, which can be readily copied or adapted to different worksites. The guides were developed in partnership with construction contractors, building trades unions and governmental agencies, who assisted by evaluating and field testing the guides.

The Blueprint Project, which was initiated in 1999 with a grant from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health through the Center to Protect Workers' Rights, is a joint project of the Mount Sinai Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine's Construction Hygiene and Ergonomics Program and the Hunter College Urban Public Health Program, CUNY.

The guides can be downloaded from the project's Web site at www.blueprintproject.org. There are also a limited number of the guides available in CD or book form, which may be requested by calling the Blueprint Project/CHEP at (212) 241-7573.

About the Author

Sandy Smith

Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.

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