Update on Risks and Control of Mould,
Lead and Silica on Construction Projects

- - Part 4 - -

Environmental Abatement Council of Ontario:

Mould Abatement Guidelines, 2004

The Environmental Abatement Council of Ontario is a professional association representing the interest of contractors, consultants and building owners involved with hazardous materials abatement.

An EACO committee was formed in 2002 to develop a code of practice for the abatement of mould growth, to provide for consistent practice in Ontario. At that time, individual consultants and contractors were relying on the various available guidelines, with a number of modifications. The committee included several abatement contractors, environmental consultants, suppliers, insurers, and representatives of the Ontario Ministry of Labour. EACO released its mould abatement guidelines in early 2004.

EACO has submitted the 2004 Mould Abatement Guidelines to the Ontario Ministry of Labour for recognition as an accepted Code of Practice or Guideline under Section 32 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. This section allows the Minister of Labour to approve all or part of a code or standard of practice made by a person or body, and after doing so, that code of practice may be followed to comply with the regulatory requirement specified in the approval.

The EACO guidelines were being developed at the same time as the abatement procedures given in CCA Guide 82, and some EACO committee members sat on the CCA mould task force as well. To avoid unnecessary conflicts between the two sets of work practices, ECAO drafted their work practices to be consistent with the CCA work practices. Only a few minor differences exist.

The EACO guidelines classify mould abatement work by the extent of mould affected material, as follows:

The major points of the work practices are given below.

Type 1: Small Isolated Areas, less than 10 ft² (< 1 m²2 )

1. Communicate with occupants.
2. Provide trained, fit workers, with vaccinations appropriate for the work.
3. Remove occupants and consider removing susceptible occupants from areas adjacent to the abatement work.
4. Workers shall wear basic PPE (dust-tight coveralls, dust-impervious gloves, eye protection) and a half face piece air-purifying respirator fitted with replaceable filters (N95 minimum) or a filtering facepiece respirator (N95 minimum).
5. Turn off HVAC systems and seal over any diffusers immediately adjacent to the work area.
6. Pre-clean contents to be salvaged and protect items to remain in the work area.
7. Where possible, place a drop sheet below the mouldy materials.
8. Dust suppression methods should be used where possible, prior to disturbance of the mouldy materials. Tape a section of plastic sheeting or duct tape over the mouldy material, or if this is not feasible, lightly mist the mouldy material with water.
9. Remove any porous substrate materials (ceiling tiles, drywall, etc.) well beyond the immediate areas of visible contamination, for a suggested minimum distance of 30 cm in all directions.
10. Remove the waste in sealed bags, packaged in sealed double-bags, as discussed above.
11. Clean the work area with HEPA vacuum cleaning and wet methods. .
12. Dispose of all materials as waste.
13. After completion of work, wash face and hands.
14. Ensure surfaces are dry before re-constructing.
    

Type 2: Moderate areas, 1-10 m² (10-100 ft² ), or less than 1 m² (10 ft² )
              in HVAC systems

1. The project authority should consult with a qualified health and safety professional with experience performing microbial investigations and remediation, prior to remediation work, to provide quality assurance for the project and monitoring of compliance with these guidelines.
2. A competent supervisor must be present during all contaminated work.
3. Communicate with occupants.
4. Provide trained, fit workers, with vaccinations appropriate for the work.
5. Remove occupants and consider removing susceptible occupants from areas adjacent to the abatement work.
6. Workers shall wear basic PPE as discussed for Level 1 and a half face piece air-purifying respirator fitted with replaceable filters. P100 filters are recommended.
7. Turn off HVAC systems and seal over any diffusers or other openings immediately adjacent to the work area.
8. Install signs warning of the exposure hazard. Suggested wording: CAUTION, MOULD EXPOSURE, WEAR ASSIGNED PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY .
9. The abatement area must be secured and access restricted. Isolate the work area with an enclosure constructed of fibre-reinforced polyethylene sheeting or 6 mil polyethylene sheeting, taped and supported as required. Provide a temporary roof where an existing ceiling does not complete the temporary enclosure. Install fibre-reinforced polyethylene sheeting on the floor to protect the existing floor.
10. A competent person must inspect the work area for defects in the enclosure, barriers and change room, at the beginning of every shift, at the end of every shift where there is no shift beginning immediately following the shift that is ending, and at least once per day on days where there are no shifts.
11. Provide continuous negative pressure ventilation within the enclosure by drawing air from the work area and exhausting it out of the enclosure, either by use of a HEPA vacuum or a portable HEPA-filtered exhaust fan. Provide a minimum negative pressure of 5 Pascals (0.02 inches of water column). Discharge the filtered air outside the building and away from persons wherever possible, and if this is not possible, consider on-site leak testing of the HEPA filtered equipment. Negative pressure must be maintained until the completion of all contaminated work.
12. Pre-clean contents to be salvaged and protect items to remain in the work area.
13. Dust suppression methods should be used where possible, prior to disturbance of the mouldy materials. Tape a section of plastic sheeting or duct tape over the mouldy material, or if this is not feasible, lightly mist the mouldy material with water.
14. Remove any porous substrate materials (ceiling tiles, drywall, etc.) well beyond the immediate areas of visible contamination, for a suggested minimum distance of 30 cm in all directions.
15. Remove the waste in sealed bags, packaged in sealed double-bags, as discussed above.
16. Clean the work area with HEPA vacuum cleaning and wet methods.
17. Dispose of all materials as waste.
18. After completion of work, wash face and hands.
19. Ensure surfaces are dry before re-constructing.

Type 3: More than 10 m² (100 ft² ) or more than 1 m² (10 ft² ) in HVAC systems

1. A health and safety professional experienced in performing microbial investigations must be consulted prior to commencing remediation. The HSP must determine whether these procedures are applicable to the specific remediation project, and identify any required changes. In addition, the HSP will provide periodic hands-on monitoring of associated mould removal activities.
2. A competent supervisor must be present during all contaminated work.
3. Communicate with occupants.
4. Provide trained, fit workers, with vaccinations appropriate for the work.
5. Remove occupants and consider removing susceptible occupants from areas adjacent to the abatement work.
6. Workers shall wear basic PPE as discussed above (coveralls, gloves, etc.) and a minimum of a full facepiece respirator with P100 filters. A full-facepiece Powered Air Purifying Respirator with high efficiency filters is preferred.
7. Turn off HVAC systems and seal over any diffusers immediately adjacent to the work area.
8. Install signs warning of the exposure hazard. Suggested wording: CAUTION, MOULD EXPOSURE, WEAR ASSIGNED PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
9. The abatement area must be secured and access restricted. Isolate the work area with an enclosure constructed of fibre-reinforced polyethylene sheeting or 6 mil polyethylene sheeting, taped and supported as required. Install two layers of polyethylene sheeting on temporary walls that form the perimeter of the enclosure. Provide a temporary roof where an existing ceiling does not complete the temporary enclosure. Install fibre-reinforced polyethylene sheeting on the floor, to protect the existing floor.
10. Provide continuous negative pressure ventilation within the enclosure, through use of portable HEPA filtered exhaust fans. Provide a minimum negative pressure of 5 Pascals (0.02 inches of water column) and a minimum of 4 air changes per hour. Discharge the filtered air outside the building and away from persons wherever possible, and if this is not possible, perform on-site leak testing of the HEPA filtered fan. Negative pressure must be maintained until the completion of all contaminated work.
11. Negative pressure within the enclosure shall be continuously measured and recorded.
12. Provide a Worker Decontamination Facility, to include a Clean Change Room and a Dirty Change Room. Install flap doors at each opening into and within the Decontamination Facility. Provide a wash station consisting of at least a basin, fresh water, soap and toweling, in the Clean Change Room. A shower for worker comfort may be provided, but is optional.
13. When going into the contaminated work area the worker will don clean coveralls and a respirator in the Clean Change Room.
14. When exiting, the worker will use a HEPA vacuum in the work area to remove gross contamination from coveralls and boot covers (or separate dirty work boots). The worker will then enter the Dirty Change Room where the dirty coveralls and boot covers are removed (to be used only once). Work boots used without boot covers will also be removed and stored in the dirty change room. The wash station is to be used by each worker on leaving the work area to clean face and hands.
15. Provide a separate Waste Decontamination Facility, consisting of a Double Bagging Room and a Waste Transfer Room where large volumes of waste will be removed. Seal the waste into bags (or polyethylene sheeting sealed with tape) in the contaminated work area, and wipe the exterior of the bags or other containers. Transfer the waste to the Double Bagging Room and place a second bag around bagged waste. Seal the second bag. Transfer the double-bagged waste into the Waste Transfer Room for removal by workers entering from the outside of the decontamination facilities.
16. A competent person must inspect the work area for defects in the enclosure, barriers and change room, at the beginning of every shift, at the end of every shift where there is no shift beginning immediately following the shift that is ending, and at least once per day on days where there are no shifts.
17. Pre-clean contents to be salvaged and protect items to remain in the work area.
18. Dust suppression methods should be used where possible, prior to disturbance of the mouldy materials. Tape a section of plastic sheeting or duct tape over the mouldy material, or if this is not feasible, lightly mist the mouldy material with water.
19. Remove any porous substrate materials (ceiling tiles, drywall, etc.) well beyond the immediate areas of visible contamination, for a suggested minimum distance of 30 cm in all directions.
20. Remove the waste in sealed bags, packaged in sealed double-bags, as discussed above.
21. Clean the work area with HEPA vacuum cleaning and wet methods.
22. Dispose of all materials as waste.
23. After completion of work, wash face and hands.
24. Ensure surfaces are dry before re-constructing.
25. The project authority or representative shall inspect the Level 3 work area for acceptable completion, by a combination of careful visual inspection and possibly environmental testing. A site will be considered acceptable and clean when a thorough visual inspection shows an acceptable state of cleanliness. In addition, if taken, clearance tests (air samples, swabs, tape-lifts or vacuumed dust samples) should indicate the work area is no longer impacted by the mould contamination and removal process.

Copies of the EACO Mould Abatement Guidelines are available from the EACO office, 70 Leek Crescent, Richmond Hill ON, L4B 1H1 (416) 499-4000

PEN # 19 "Update on Risks and Control of Mould,
Lead and Silica on Construction Projects"

continues with

PEN #19 "Update on Risks and Control of Mould, Lead and Silica on Construction Projects"

Bruce Stewart CIH, ROH
Senior Vice President
Pinchin Environmental Ltd.

Presented at Construction Superconference
Toronto, November 29, 2004

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