Archive for category: Construction & Remediation

California COVID-19 Prevention Requirements Pose Challenges for Construction Industry

A California law that enhances the enforcement of COVID-19 infection prevention requirements could present challenges for the construction industry.

California’s Assembly Bill 685, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2020, requires employers to notify workers of potential exposures to COVID-19 and provides regulators with enhanced authority to impose penalties for violations for the next two years.

While this law applies to all businesses, it creates particular challenges for the construction industry where subcontractors can change from day to day.

Under the new requirements, employers must notify all employees and subcontractors at a worksite of potential exposure, COVID-19-related benefits and protections, and disinfection and safety measures that will be implemented at the worksite in response to the potential exposure, according to the California Department of Industrial Relations. In addition, the new rule enhances Cal/OSHA’s enforcement of COVID-19 infection prevention requirements by allowing citations for serious violations to be issued quickly.

The law also requires employers to notify local public health agencies of all workplace outbreaks, defined as three or more laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 among employees who live in different households. On a construction site, where several trades or contractors may be present on a given day, construction managers should make a good-faith effort to notify all individuals who may have been on site at the same time as the infectious individual.

The law states that from Jan. 1, 2021 to Jan. 1, 2023:

• Cal/OSHA can shut down a worksite that exposes employees to an imminent hazard related to COVID-19.
• Cal/OSHA can issue citations for serious COVID-19 violations, without having to provide 15 days’ notice.

Expert Help to Navigate COVID-19 Requirements

An experienced partner can help you navigate the challenges of these new requirements so you can focus on your core business.

Omega Environmental Services has 25 years of experience in environmental management, microbial decontamination, and mitigation of environmental risks. The Omega team includes scientists, infectious disease experts, public health professionals, toxicologists, industrial hygienists, and industry veterans who specialize in mitigating risk, including infectious diseases.

We stay up to date with the evolving disinfection guidance and recommendations provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and can provide a detailed site and industry-specific set of business continuity guidelines for minimizing the health and safety risks in your workplace.

We can help with reopening guidelines and operations and maintenance protocols for COVID-19, including:

• COVID-19 exposure assessment
• Record keeping and risk communication
• Employee and worker protection
• Enhanced cleaning and disinfection
• Testing of HVAC and water systems
• Occupant density control
• Personal protective equipment
• Training
• Risk management
• Project management or consultation

State-of-the-Art Methods for Combating Infectious Diseases

Our staff has expertise in the successful control of threats from many disease outbreaks including SARS, Ebola, Legionella and Norovirus.

Omega uses a rapid, in-field, quantitative testing method to determine the presence of microbes on high-touch surfaces both before and after cleaning to ensure adequate reduction in surface contaminants. Other test methods are available to validate disinfection efficacy.

In addition to utilizing vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP), an EPA-approved viral disinfectant, we can provide high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuuming and ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection.

Contact Omega today to find out more about how our services can help you navigate through COVID-19 requirements with ease.

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How a Century-Old Los Angeles College Saved Almost $1 Million on Environmental Remediation

The wear and tear of more than century had left Occidental College’s Swan Hall in need of a makeover.

In addition to 100 years’ worth of earthquake damage, the building on the campus of the private liberal arts college in Los Angeles had asbestos and lead that had to be removed.

Built in 1914 and deemed one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country by Newsweek, Occidental’s 120 acres features buildings in the Spanish colonial style surrounded by 100-year-old-oak and eucalyptus trees. Swan Hall, a boys dormitory turned into an office building, was designed by noted California architect Myron Hunt.

When renovation bids went out for the project, a project manager noted that Omega’s proposal had better staging and completion times. As a bonus, Omega provided an estimate that was $900,000 less than the other proposals.

For the complete account of how Omega Environmental took on the job and left the college asbestos and lead free and “ecstatic” over the results, click here to access the Swan Hall Case Study.

Omega’s work with Occidental College continues today with ongoing projects that include Johnson Hall and student dormitories.

Partner with the Right Firm for Worry-Free Asbestos Resolution

Omega Environmental is a full-service environmental management and hazardous materials consulting firm with 25 years of project experience and deep expertise in environmental assessment and remediation in preparation for demolition, renovation or construction. We provide assessment and mitigation for a wide variety of hazardous materials, including asbestos, lead, PCBs, mold and moisture and chemical contaminants.

Based in California, Omega has a deep field of expertise that includes nationally known experts in a wide variety of disciplines, including environmental project management, hazardous waste investigations, industrial hygiene, health and safety training, microbial decontamination, indoor air quality, asbestos management and abatement and wildfire mitigation, among others. We work with project managers, architects, engineers and lenders across the country to ensure that their projects move forward safely, cost-effectively and in compliance with regulatory requirements.

To learn more about how we can help you ensure the success of your construction, renovation or demolition project, give us a call or click on the link below.

Read the entire case study and download the (PDF)

Four Key Changes to the OSHA Beryllium Standard

With both long and short-term exposure limits reduced under new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, practice controls and plans for those who work with beryllium-containing products may need updating in order to ensure worker safety and OSHA compliance.

A lightweight but extremely strong metal, beryllium and its related compounds are often found in construction materials as insulation for electric wiring and in products made of ceramic or copper. As an insulation material, beryllium has come to replace polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as the material of choice because it is deemed less harmful to human health and the environment, but it is still highly toxic.

When inhaled, beryllium can cause lung damage and lead to diseases such as pneumonia, lung cancer and chronic beryllium disease (CBD). CBD is a life-threatening pulmonary disease that workers can develop following exposure to beryllium at levels below permissible exposure limits. Workers can also be at risk from skin exposure to airborne beryllium or materials that contain beryllium.

New OSHA Beryllium Standard Designed to Save Lives

In December 2018, OSHA began enforcing its stricter standards for beryllium exposure in industrial settings, including construction. The new standards, which reduce both long-term and short-term exposure limits, are expected to prevent as many as 90 deaths from beryllium-related diseases, including lung cancer, and prevent 46 new cases of chronic beryllium disease (CBD) each year.

So what do property managers and other construction stakeholders need to know about OSHA’s new beryllium standard? Here are four key takeaways.

1. Long-Term Exposure Limits Have Decreased

OSHA’s new rule “reduces the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for beryllium to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over 8-hours.” Employers must use engineering and work practice controls to prevent beryllium from becoming airborne where workers can breathe it in.”

2. Short-term Exposure Limits Have Also Decreased

The rule also “establishes a new short term exposure limit for beryllium of 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air, over a 15-minute sampling period.” Even in workplaces where beryllium exposure is minimal and where workers are exposed in small increments, changes in scheduling and other work practice controls may be necessary to meet OSHA’s new standard.

3. Employers May Have to Update or Adopt New Work Practice Controls & Plans

The rule requires employers to utilize engineering controls and best workplace practices to prevent worker exposure to beryllium. These measures include ventilation or enclosure of work spaces, the provision of personal protective equipment such as respirators, the development of a written exposure control plan, and training on the hazards of working with beryllium.

4. Employers May Have to Adopt a New Employee Medical Benefits Policy

The rule requires employers to provide routine medical examinations and proper healthcare surveillance to beryllium-exposed workers, and to provide medical removal protection healthcare benefits for those diagnosed with a disease related to beryllium exposure.

Not Sure How to Address OSHA’s New Beryllium Standard?

Omega Environmental Services can help you expedite the development of new work practice controls, including worker scheduling, to reduce exposure in projects where workers may come into contact with beryllium. We can also help you address other regulatory concerns and ensure you are in compliance.  Contact us to get started today.

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Los Angeles Hotel Rich in History Tackles Remediation with Omega’s Help

The remodeling of L.A.’s Hotel Figueroa, a deteriorating 1920’s era landmark in the city’s newly thriving downtown, revived a rich backstory of 1920s-era women, newly enfranchised and making their way in the world.

Built in 1926 by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), and managed by a “first of her kind” female general manager whose portrait now hangs in the check-in area, the hotel was originally a Spanish Colonial-style inn dedicated to providing a safe space for female travelers and professionals. According to the Los Angeles Times, the hotel was, at the time, “the largest project of its kind in the United States to be financed, owned, and operated by women” – a substantial feat considering women had won the right to vote only six years prior. According to the hotel’s website, the hotel was women-only for its first two years.

But the restoration of this iconic structure required dealing with the less celebratory historical legacy of 1920s-era construction, which made liberal use of materials now known to be hazardous.

Reviving a Vivid Historical Era – Minus the Asbestos and Lead

Known for its incredible versatility and heat resistance, asbestos was favored in the 19th and early 20th centuries for everything from insulation to pipelines and other building materials. Lead, also a common household and commercial material, was used for things like paint and gasoline.

A year after Hotel Figueroa was erected, the first official workers’ compensation claim for asbestos-related disease in the U.S. was filed, according to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. At the same time, many developed countries such as Australia and Sweden passed lead paint prevention acts, but the United States was not among them. It wasn’t until the early 1970s that national asbestos and lead regulations were enacted.

In 2014, Hotel Figueroa’s new owners undertook a multi-million-dollar renovation. The new owners envisioned a luxury hotel with some of the original 1920s flair. Their initial plan was to remodel certain parts of the hotel, but after Omega conducted a hazardous materials assessment of the property, it was determined that major components and areas of the building required remediation. This entailed a full demolition of the interior – a project that took nearly two years to complete.

Because the hotel is a protected historical landmark, significant portions of the hotel’s original structure had to remain intact. This added to the challenge of remodeling a building that already had unreliable elevators and other safety concerns.

To facilitate the asbestos and lead remediation process, an exterior elevator was installed to move securely between the 14 floors. Some of the ductwork in the building had to be removed to work around the mechanical system, and gaping holes in the floors had to be covered to ensure worker safety. Omega engineered solutions that allowed remediation to proceed safely and effectively.

Assessing, Remediating and Remodeling in Partnership

Property managers and general contractors understand that environmental assessment and remediation are necessary steps in the remodeling process, both to safeguard the environment and the health of the occupants as well as to ensure regulatory compliance. Omega Environmental is a trusted partner in this effort, as much for our broad experience with landmark renovation projects as for our deep expertise in environmental assessment and remediation. We have decades of experience and Ph.D. level expertise in managing the process of lead and asbestos remediation – along with remediation for other hazardous materials – safely, efficiently and cost effectively.

Contact us to earn more about best practices for environmental remediation in historical renovation.

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Is Moisture in Your Building Costing You? Here’s What To Do

When Should I Moisture Test?

Typically, moisture testing is necessary when there is a potential water intrusion event. In new construction concrete floors will release moisture into the building during the normal concrete curing process. Depending on the type of mixture, some curing times can exceed 30 days! As a precautionary measure, it is prudent to measure the moisture content prior to completing the finishes to eliminate the possibility of impacting other building materials with moisture resulting in mold growth.

Moisture Testing in Concrete & Other Building Materials

It is important to test for excessive moisture in an indoor environment in an effort to minimize the potential for building material damage and the proliferation of microbial growth. Excessive moisture can accumulate from many different water sources in a building, including but not excluded to:

• Faulty fire sprinklers
• Bathrooms, laundry rooms, and other rooms where moisture collects (condensation as a lack of proper ventilation)
• Leaks in water transport mechanisms, such as kitchen pipes and other plumbing
• Other indoor and outdoor sources of humidity and sewer water and water transport
• Faulty vapor barriers on concrete subfloors

During the construction process testing for moisture in concrete slabs, otherwise known as moisture vapor emission testing, makes sense and should be performed on concrete even if flooring conditions appear to be normal. Concrete slabs should be tested regardless of age or grade level, whether it’s on grade, above grade, or below grade. From the penthouse of a building to the basement, the concrete should be tested.  Proper moisture testing of the slab will determine the moisture content and potential emissions into a building space. The findings could reveal subfloor conditions that allow you to source the correct type of floor covering that is needed. This will help you avoid future issues such as delamination of VFT or sheets and more importantly, mold growth on carpet padding and carpeting.

Two common methods for testing can provide valuable information and understanding of the slabs moisture condition.

• The American Society of Testing and Methods (ASTM) Standard ASTM F 2170, which is a standard test for measuring the relative humidity in concrete floor slabs using In Situ probes.
• The other test is ASTM F 1869, the standard test method for measuring vapor emission rate of concrete slabs using Anhydrous Calcium Chloride, which measures the vapor emission at the surface.

Omega Environmental Services, Inc. has qualified and certified professionals (Certified Industrial Hygienists, Professional Engineers, Geologists, Certified Asbestos Consultants, Certified Lead Professionals, Toxicologists) that have the expertise to assist businesses in assessing and managing their hazardous materials.