becomes "friable" meaning it is airborne and
can be inhaled. There is only one way to
determine if a substance contains asbestos
and what percentage it contains and that is to
have a sample tested. It is the responsibility
of the general contractor and/or building
management to provide an asbestos free
work environment when asbestos is being
disturbed. If the general con-
tractor and/or the building man-
agement states that the work
area in question has been
abated meaning asbestos free
Rex Electric needs a copy of the
paper work showing that the
work area in question has been
abated. If you have any ques-
tions please call me.
A quick note: Our down-
town office is housing an arc
flash bag and insulated tools.
You can contact Mike Scruggs if
you will be needing these items
in an emergency.
Before the following work is
performed; cut overs, shut
downs, and live service work. Our safety di-
rector and one of our field superintendents
needs to be notified. Finally, I have re-
ceived from the field and our service trucks
arc flash shields that have been bro-
ken. The shields are plastic and need
to be protected please don't put heavy
objects on top of the arc flash bags
when loading up a gang box this is
causing the shields to break.
Thanks for working safe!
I have a few subjects I would like to
address. First, I want to talk about the cloth-
ing you wear on job sites, because of the
many air borne particles your clothing is ex-
posed to on a daily bases I suggest you store
your clothes in a separate clothes hamper. By
doing this your clothes are not mixed in with
your families clothes. In addition I would also
suggest that your work clothes be washed
separate from your family's clothes. Doing
these two procedures could be very benefi-
cial.
I have been noticing a lot of our field employ-
ees eating during break and at lunch and not
washing their hands before they eat. Rex
Electric wants you to be healthy and remain
healthy throughout your professional career.
If your job does not have a facility to wash
your hands let me know and you will be pro-
vided with a waterless hand cleaner.
I get quite a few questions regarding
asbestos. Until the early 1970's asbestos was
used during the construction of buildings.
Asbestos is commonly used as an acoustic
insulator and a thermal insulator as well as in
fireproofing and building material. It is often
found in ceiling tiles, pipe insulation, cloth
electrical wire insulation, floor tile and mas-
tic. Asbestos becomes hazardous when it is
disturbed and the fibers become airborne.
When
asbestos
becomes
disturbed
such as
drilling,
cutting or
sanding it
1 ST QUARTER, 2008
P A G E 3
Safety News - Brian Clish Director of Safety
Boma Suburban Trade Show at
Drury Lane in Oakbrook.
Brian Clish, Megan Ozzello, & Mike Smith
put their efforts together to create this
spectacular showcase.
