Asbestos Awareness
Construction and general industry · Ver en español
Talking points
- Asbestos is present in many buildings constructed before 1980 — in floor tiles, insulation, roofing, siding, pipe wrapping, ceiling tiles, and joint compound.
- The OSHA PEL for asbestos is 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter as an 8-hour TWA. There is no safe level of exposure.
- In construction, asbestos work is classified from Class I (highest risk — removal of thermal system insulation) to Class IV (custodial activities near asbestos materials).
- If you suspect you have disturbed asbestos-containing material — it may look like white or gray fibrous insulation — stop work immediately, isolate the area, and notify your supervisor.
- Only trained and licensed workers may perform asbestos abatement. Awareness training is required for anyone who may encounter asbestos during their work.
Ask the crew
Has a pre-demolition asbestos survey been done for this project — and do you know where the asbestos-containing materials are?
Standards this talk is built on
A toolbox talk is a short safety briefing. It supports the training a standard requires; it does not replace it.
Run this talk with your crew and keep the record
In Jobsite, workers sign in on their phones in English or Spanish, and you keep who attended, when, and where, with every other talk your crew has had.
Using an AI assistant? Jobsite's free MCP server serves this library, with OSHA rule text, no sign-in: https://jobsitecerts.com/api/mcp/public (/mcp)
Sign-in sheet
Print this page to collect signatures, or run the talk in Jobsite and workers sign in on their phones.
| Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|
© Jobsite. Free to read aloud, print and use in your own crew's safety meetings. Republishing, reselling or bulk-copying these talks is not permitted.