Today, more than ever, people are aware of the potential health related problems associated with their environment. Lead has been brought to the forefront through newspaper and magazine articles, television documentaries, and government public awareness programs through such departments as Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC). Lead is no longer just an industrial pollutant or danger to workers in industrial settings. It has been recognized as a potential hazard to anyone from unborn children to the elderly and everyone in between in household, commercial, or industrial settings.

Awareness of potential health related problems, measures for personal safety, and personal hygiene are not just topics for casual conversation. Legislation exists today which places responsibility and liability for such awareness on owners, managers, and supervisors of companies, where there exists a potential for exposure through inhalation, ingestion, or absorption, for anyone who works with or around lead containing materials and/or products. Lead is currently listed as one of eleven "Designated Substances", substances known to have associated detrimental health effects, under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act of Ontario also contains general duties which must be followed by employers and sets out the powers of the Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) inspectors to enforce the Act. Under the Act, in relation to toxic or hazardous materials (including "Designated Substances"), employers are required to:

• Provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker(s) to protect their health and safety.
• Acquaint worker(s) with any hazard in the workplace, this includes all biological, chemical and physical agents.
• Take every precaution reasonable for the protection of the worker(s).
• Keep and maintain accurate records of the handling, storage, use and/or disposal of biological, chemical or physical agents.
• Monitor levels of biological, chemical or physical agents in a workplace and keep and post accurate records thereof.
• Comply with a standard, as set by the MOL (Ontario Regulation 843/90 for lead), limiting exposure of a worker to biological, chemical or physical agents.
• Determine, before beginning a project, the existence of any designated substance(s) at the project site and prepare a list of such substances.
• If project work is to be tendered, the person issuing the tenders shall include, as part of the tendering information, a copy of the list of designated substances present.
• Ensure that a prospective constructor of a project on the owner's property has received a copy of the designated substances list before entering into a binding contract with the constructor.

An owner or officer of a company who fails to comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act is liable to the constructor and every contractor and subcontractor who suffers any loss or damages as the result of the subsequent discovery, on the project, of a designated substance that the owner did not identify and include on the list supplied to contractors. Liability also applies where an employer fails to inform his/her employees of the existence of designated substances and supply them with appropriate engineering controls, personal protective equipment, and clean-up facilities to adequately protect the workers health and safety.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act a business owners, managers, directors, employers, and officers duty is to take all reasonable steps for the protection of workers. To this end, identification of hazardous materials, including but not limited to designated substances, in the workplace and the transfer of knowledge to workers through awareness training is essential in reducing present and future liability.

Please feel free to call if you have any questions regarding Lead Paint or other environmental concerns. We will be pleased to provide a free (no obligation) quotation for any up-coming projects you may have.