A Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year! We wish you a New Year better than the last one and the best one yet!

Future Environment Designs Training Center (#FEDTC) wishes you and your family a Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year.  As we say goodbye and good riddance to 2020.  At the same time, we enter 2021 with hope and faith that the rest of the decade will be better than it started.  As we discussed, in December's Safety Suzy Newsletter this year the asbestos training industry was shut down from March to May, until we were allowed to do refresher classes virtually/online.  Then in-person training for initial training was opened in June and refresher classes were opened in July.  Since July, we were only allowed to hold classes at 50% capacity.  We're still running at 50% capacity and will continue to run at this level and follow our pandemic policy in our in-person classes until the pandemic is over.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree

In our December Safety Suzy, we announced an increase in our loyalty discount for students who trained with us in 2020.  The loyalty discount for 2021 has been increased to 25% (from 15%).  We thank all of you for your continued support of our business.  For those paying for a subscription or purchasing training services in advance, we are increasing the discount you receive for purchasing training services in advance.  See our Patreon website for more information.

Socially Distanced Asbestos Initial Class

We are proud to announce the addition of a new instructor at #FEDTC.  Mr. Ramon De Los Santos who is an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Outreach Training Instructor has over 15 years of construction experience in road construction safety.  Mr. De Los Santos is bilingual and speaks English and Spanish fluently.  #FEDTC will be adding Spanish OSHA 10-hour & 30-hour construction safety courses to our schedule.  We look forward to adding this training to our schedules along with Spanish versions of hazard communication/right-to-know; excavation, and fall protection courses.  Welcome aboard Mr. De Los Santos!

Fifth Avenue Star

Since the pandemic started we have added new on-demand/e-learn courses to our catalog.  We have added a two-hour Covid-19 awareness course, a 4-hour bloodborne pathogen course, and newly added to the catalog the AHERA designated person course.  The AHERA designated person course is required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) for the person that the Local Education Agency (LEA) designated as the individual responsible for ensuring the requirements of the AHERA regulation are properly implemented.  To register for this course or any of our on-demand/e-learning courses visit FEDTC's online training website.     

Socially Distanced Initial Mold Class

We are looking forward to seeing all of you in 2021.  We are also excited about the changes and opportunities coming our way.  Again, we wish you & your family a Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year!!!

Difference Between Allied Trades and Operations & Maintenance.

Asbestos Handler Initial Class at IUOE (Photo credit: angelogarciaiii)

Recently, we got a call from a client expressing an interest in asbestos training.  The client being a tradesperson (electrician, carpenter, plumber, etc.) was confused on which training and certificate they should get, either the Allied Trades or the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Certificate.  Because this client was confused we figured others may be too.  So how do you determine which training/certificate is appropriate?  Well first we need to answer the question will the tradespeople disturb asbestos containing materials (ACM)?  What do we mean by disturb, well let's go the New York State Department of Labor Industrial Code Rule 56 (ICR56) to get the definition of disturb.  "Disturbance means any activities that disrupt the matrix of ACM or Presumed ACM (PACM), or generate debris, visible emissions, or airborne asbestos fibers from ACM or PACM.  This includes moving of friable asbestos containing material from one place to another."
So deciding whether the tradesperson will be disturbing ACM or PACM is the most important question.  The reason for this is that the primary difference between the two titles is that the O&M certificate allows disturbance (for repairs/maintenance that will fit into one glovebag or one tent, that does not exceed 10 square feer or 25 linear feet) and the Allied Trades certificate does not allow disturbance (see Guidance Document page 14, Q/A# 50).
Realize, one of critical points on the disturbance definition is the last sentence "This includes moving of friable asbestos containing material from one place to another."  So, if you have a tradesperson that enters a crawlspace where the dust is contaminated with asbestos, the tradesperson is considered to be disturbing asbestos.  Since the tradesperson is disturbing asbestos he must have an O&M certificate to enter the crawlspace.  This would also meet the training requirements for Class III workers (which are workers who are likely to disturb ACM/PACM in quantities that will fit into a maximum of a 60" waste bag) under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 1926.1101 asbestos in the construction industry standard.
In addition, the meaning of the Allied Trades Certificate was originally for the purpose of tradesmen who worked with the asbestos abatement contractor to provide the contractor with water for the showers, shut down electric and provide temporary power, and construct the decontamination facility and isolation barriers, to name a few.  The purpose of this trainiing is to train the workers on the dangers of asbestos, respiratory protection, and how enter and exit the work area (another words how to decontaminate themselves in the shower).  The training does not include any abatement or disturbance training because they are not supposed to disturb asbestos.  This certificate/training requirement is not recognized by OSHA under 1926.1101.
For example, the recent violations issued to SMG at Nassau Coliseum included violations for not providing asbestos training for Class III work.  In addition, in a Newsday article on Wednesday, October 7, 2009, Carle Place School District admitted to erring in not hiring a specially licensed contractor to run conduit in their crawlspace.  That license (an asbestos abatement license) is required of the contractor/company performing the work and all the contractor's workers (working in the crawlspace) are required to have a minimum of the O&M certificate.
We hope this will clarify the difference between these two New York State Certificates and help tradespeople determine which certificate/training they should request. 

Related articles

• OSHA Cites SMG For Asbestos Violations at Nassau Coliseum (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• OSHA May Fine Nassau Coliseum for Asbestos Violations (mesothelioma.com)
• Housing authority fined for asbestos job (timesunion.com)
• New York Attorney Says Asbestos is a 21st Century Health Hazard (prweb.com)