2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 23 - Health and Safety › Chapter 23-24.5 - Asbestos Abatement › Section 23-24.5-14. - Training, curricula, and certification.

§ 23-24.5-14. Training, curricula, and certification.
(a)(1)
The director shall establish procedures and regulations for the following procedures:
(i)
For the certification of a competent person, of designated public maintenance employees, of designated teacher and parent representatives, of laboratories performing analysis of asbestos in air or building materials, and of private consultants or inspectors;
(ii)
Establish standards and specifications for training courses based upon, but not limited to, those included in this chapter and to certify that training;
(iii)
To train directly or by contract maintenance personnel or competent persons;
(iv)
To certify and train designated public maintenance personnel and workers in the private sector, including but not limited to electricians, contractors, plumbers, in safe techniques of spot asbestos repair.
(2)
Each trained and certified person shall be issued an “asbestos certified” photo identity card, and only those carded persons shall be permitted to do spot repairs on asbestos in the buildings of their jurisdiction. Any person certified for spot repair but not as an asbestos “contractor” shall not undertake any asbestos abatement project larger than the size limits of a spot repair as defined by the director and shall follow all safe work practices for spot repair work as required by the director. Those employees in violation of these provisions and/or their employer shall be subject to a fine of no more than five hundred dollars ($500) per violation.
(b)
As a guideline for approval of a certified training program for asbestos contractors, the director shall give due consideration to a course of thirty-two (32) hours of instruction covering the following topics:
(1)
The nature of asbestos hazards and a review of improper abatement procedures such as dry removal, lack of protective barriers, and poor respirator fit problems;
(2)
The medical effects of asbestos exposure, the mechanics of human respiration, the nature of asbestos disease conditions, their diagnosis and evaluation, and medical asbestos surveillance methods in exposed populations;
(3)
Federal and state asbestos regulations including OSHA and EPA regulations, Right-to-Know laws, and this chapter;
(4)
Current protection standards, including the role of respirators, appropriate housekeeping procedures, appropriate hygiene, the synergism effects of asbestos with smoking, and the importance of decontamination procedures;
(5)
The proper preparation of the work area including, but not limited to, the proper repair and removal abatement techniques, sealing and isolation methods in the work environment, the use of negative pressure air filtration barriers, the avoidance of power tools, the need for wetting down of asbestos materials, bagging and labeling of asbestos materials, proper waste storage, and removal of material;
(6)
Identifying asbestos containing materials, study of decision protocol for evaluation and prioritizing of abatement, air sampling and other monitoring techniques, negative air pressure filtration system and high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter systems.
(c)
The director may assess fees for certifications issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that those fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed.
(d)
Notwithstanding the requirements contained in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the director may also establish procedures or regulations for reciprocal recognition of training courses and/or certification programs for asbestos contractors, site supervisory personnel and/or asbestos abatement workers. The director may assess fees for reciprocal recognition of training courses and/or certification programs for asbestos contractors, site supervisory personnel and/or asbestos abatement workers issued in accordance with rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, provided that these fees are assessed only after procedures in accordance with chapter 35 of title 42 have been followed.
History of Section.
P.L. 1985, ch. 366, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 541, § 1; P.L. 1989, ch. 533, § 1; P.L. 1996, ch. 237, § 1; P.L. 2001, ch. 86, § 9; P.L. 2003, ch. 59, § 2; P.L. 2003, ch. 72, § 2.