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California Code of Regulations (Last Updated: August 6, 2014) |
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Title 8. Industrial Relations |
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Division 1. Department of Industrial Relations |
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Chapter 4. Division of Industrial Safety |
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Subchapter 18. Ship Building, Ship Repairing and Ship Breaking Safety Orders |
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Article 4. Control of Hazardous Work |
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Appendix A. |
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OSHA Reference Method Mandatory This mandatory appendix specifies the procedure for analyzing air samples for asbestos and specifies quality control procedures that must be implemented by laboratories performing the analysis. The sampling and analytical methods described below represent the elements of the available monitoring methods (such as appendix B to this section, the most current version of the OSHA method ID-60, or the most current version of the NIOSH Method 7400) which OSHA considers to be essential to achieve adequate employee exposure monitoring while allowing employers to use methods that are already established within their organizations. All employers who are required to conduct air monitoring under subsection (f) of this section are required to utilize analytical laboratories that use this procedure, or an equivalent method, for collecting and analyzing samples. Sampling and Analytical Procedure 1. The sampling medium for air samples shall be mixed cellulose ester filter membranes. These shall be designated by the manufacturer as suitable for asbestos counting. See below for rejection of blanks. 2. The preferred collection device shall be the 25-mm diameter cassette with an open-faced 50-mm extension cowl. The 37-mm cassette may be used if necessary but only if written justification for the need to use the 37-mm filter cassette accompanies the sample results in the employee's exposure monitoring record. Other cassettes such as the Bell-mouth may be used within the limits of their validation. Do not reuse or reload cassettes for asbestos sample collection. 3. An air flow rate between 0.5 liter/min and 2.5 liters/min shall be selected for the 25-mm cassette. If the 37-mm cassette is used, an air flow rate between 1 liter/min and 2.5 liters/min shall be selected. 4. Where possible, a sufficient air volume for each air sample shall be collected to yield between 100 and 1,300 fibers per square millimeter on the membrane filter. If a filter darkens in appearance or if loose dust is seen on the filter, a second sample shall be started. 5. Ship the samples in a rigid container with sufficient packing material to prevent dislodging the collected fibers. Packing material that has a high electrostatic charge on its surface (e.g., expanded polystyrene) cannot be used because such material can cause loss of fibers to the sides of the cassette. 6. Calibrate each personal sampling pump before and after use with a representative filter cassette installed between the pump and the calibration devices. 7. Personal samples shall be taken in the “breathing zone” of the employee (i.e., attached to or near the collar or lapel near the worker's face). 8. Fiber counts shall be made by positive phase contrast using a microscope with an 8 to 10 X eyepiece and a 40 to 45 X objective for a total magnification of approximately 400 X and a numerical aperture of 0.65 to 0.75. The microscope shall also be fitted with a green or blue filter. 9. The microscope shall be fitted with a Walton-Beckett eyepiece graticule calibrated for a field diameter of 100 micrometers (+/- 2 micrometers). 10. The phase-shift detection limit of the microscope shall be about 3 degrees measured using the HSE phase shift test slide as outlined below. a. Place the test slide on the microscope stage and center it under the phase objective. b. Bring the blocks of grooved lines into focus. |