OSHA in Asbestos Struggle

Article Added December 10th, 2006 - Print This Story - Bookmark This Story

Recently, OSHA permitted a safety warning to be issued on auto brakes to warn of the danger of asbestos exposure. Now, just a few weeks after the warning was approved, OSHA wants to revoke the warning.

For years, the danger of working with break pads was an industrial urban legend. That is until the Occupational Safety and Health Administration agreed to put a warning on brake pads, indicating the danger of asbestos exposure when working with the item. After six years of debate, the warning was finally put on the parts label. After just a few weeks, though, a top official of OSHA is petitioning to get the warning removed. The scientist that scripted the warning, however, refuses to back down, and has had his position threatened if he did not comply.

Asbestos was banned form use in the 1980s, but items containing the material can still be imported to the US. One of these items are brake pads that come from Asia, which still contain high levels of the hazardous material. Autoworkers that replace the brake pads are in danger of asbestos exposure, since the dust that builds up on used brake pads have high levels of asbestos. The warning indicates that safety measures should be used when handling the items.

Article Added December 10th, 2006 - Print This Story - Bookmark This Story