Home renovation contractors following the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s new “lead safe” rules must also ensure that any
subcontractors they use are certified "lead safe" and trained on the
regulations.
Home renovation contractors following the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s new “lead safe” rules must also ensure that any
subcontractors they use are certified "lead safe" and trained on the
regulations.
“If a general contractor who is lead safe certified hires a
subcontractor, the general is responsible for assuring that other company is
also certified and their workers are properly trained for the tasks they will
perform,” said Chris Zorzy, president of LeadSafe Video Solutions Inc., a
Salem, Mass.-based training company. “The general contractor that hires a
subcontractor is responsible for any lead safe renovation violations committed
by the sub.”
The EPA’s recently enacted Renovation, Repair and Painting
Rule, more commonly known as the “lead safe” rule, is designed to protect
workers and residents of older buildings from dangerous exposure to lead during
renovations. Contractors working on homes, schools and other buildings
constructed prior to 1978 must be lead safe certified. But a little known
provision of the regulation requires that any subcontractor working on the
project must also be certified and that the subcontractor’s employees are
trained in lead safe practices.
“If a subcontractor wants to work on a job that falls under the
new regulations, they have to become certified and make sure their workers
receive training in lead safe practices before they enter the job site,” said
Zorzy. “Otherwise the subcontractor should not be allowed on the job site and
is going to miss out on great deal of the renovation work that takes place on
older buildings.”
For more information on the EPA’s Lead Safe Certification
program visit www.leadsafevideosolutions.com, or call Lead Safe Video Solutions
at (866) 436-5663.