Key Definitions
According to the California Department of Public Health, the following definitions are provided for guidance only. They do not contain exact language from California’s lead work practice standards.
- Abatement – Any set of measures designed to reduce or eliminate lead hazards or lead-based paint from residential or public buildings. Abatement does not include containment or cleaning activities.
- Clearance Inspection – An on-site limited investigation, performed according to U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development guidelines, to determine if lead hazard control work has been completed as specified and if the work area is safe for unprotected workers, residents and children to enter. Does not include personal air monitoring activities done to ensure Cal/OSHA compliance, representative sampling of components removed from a building to determine the applicability of hazardous waste requirements, or sampling done to determine adequacy of containment.
- Lead Hazard Evaluation– An on-site inspection, risk assessment and/or clearance inspection, done for pay or other compensation, to determine the presence or amount of lead-based paint or lead hazards in a residential or public building. Does not include personal air monitoring activities done to ensure Cal/OSHA compliance, representative sampling of components removed from a building to determine the applicability of hazardous waste requirements, or sampling done to determine adequacy of containment.
- Lead Hazards – Deteriorated lead-based paint, lead contaminated dust, lead contaminated soil, lead-based paint that is disturbed without containment or any other nuisance which results in persistent measurable lead exposure. Lead hazards include all paint or surface coatings on residential or public buildings built before January 1, 1978, that are disturbed without containment.(Such surface coatings are presumed to contain lead.)
