• Are trusted by food industry giants like Kraft, Hershey and Nestle?
• Are the number one choice for companies implementing cleanroom environments?
• Feature advanced filtering technology with HEPA filters that guarantee the most thorough cleaning, capturing bacteria down to 0.3 microns?
• Feature optional ULPA filters that collect 99.999% of all ultra-fine particles – down to and including 0.12 microns?
• Are engineered for maximum efficiency, protecting filters from premature clogging?
• Are available as intermittent-duty portable vacuums for general cleaning, continuous-duty models, wet/dry vacuums, and more?
• Deliver the largest assortment of attachments, filters and hoses in the industry – including:  accessories for overhead cleaning, stainless steel construction, and food-grade, FDA-approved, polymer-constructed hoses?

Find out more at our new food industry focus site, www.foodprocessingvacuum.com!

1.  NASA space missions

2. Libraries, including the Syracuse University Library (and remember, Ben Franklin launched libraries!)

3. Hurricane Katrina clean-up

4. Iconic American brands like Kraft and Hershey use Nilfisk vacuums in their day-to-day processes

5. The Smithsonian and various museums across the country,  including the New Orleans Collection

6. Ground Zero

7. United States Post Office (Again, Ben Franklin!)

8. Our pharmaceutical vacuums and cleanroom vacuums have played an important part  in the R&D and processing of major life saving drugs.

Although this sounds like good news for contractors standing in line to get certified, industrial legal consultants are warning remodelers to proceed with caution. Regardless of the RRP, contractors are still supposed to practice lead-safe work, and can still be held accountable by the homeowner.

More than 80 million homes in the United States contain traces of lead, a deadly element that if exposed to, even in small amounts, can cause serious effects on the brain, nervous, reproduction, cardiovascular, muscular, skeletal, renal, and blood systems. 

Lead is often absorbed through contaminated dust in older buildings and through paint chips easily ingested by small children, putting them at high risk for lead poisoning. In 2008, in order to curb the occurrence of lead-related diseases, the EPA issued 40 CR, Part 754, Subpart E, also known as the Lead RRP.

In effect since April 22, 2010, the new rule requires contractors who perform renovations, repair or painting projects on homes or schools built before 1978- the year lead paint was banned- to be licensed and become “EPA Lead–Safe Certified” in order to prevent lead contamination. 

As a result, the RRP has sparked a fury amongst contractors to hurry up and fulfill the new requirements, or pay a hefty fine; and while there are approximately 240 EPA-accredited training providers across the country offering the certification, which includes 6 hours of class time and a 2-hour hands-on skills assessment, the number of firms seeking certification is well over 200,000.

To help alleviate the long lines of contractors waiting to be certified, the State of Kansas approached ComplyAbility (Work Comp Associates, LLC), a non-profit web-based human resources, regulatory compliance, training, testing and performance tracking software company to develop a program that addressed the Lead RRP requirements.  

For years, ComplyAbility has assisted companies with training on a variety of topics related to state and federal regulations, but they were unaware of the Lead RRP rule when the state’s Building Industry Association contacted them about a year ago.

“Fortunately we have strong web capabilities to support the requirements of the Lead RRP class that are very specific,” said Tom Knight, CEO of Work Comp Associates, LLC. “With only 1 other accredited online Lead RRP in the country, ComplyAbility’s program, www.leadsafeonline.com, offers not just convenience, but the ability for contractors all over the country to take the class on their own schedule.  We can also accommodate an infinite amount of students, as opposed to live classes that easily hit their 20-person capacity.”

As required by the EPA, ComplyAbility’s online training includes 17 different modules, featuring descriptive text, photos and videos along with complete audio. Students have the ability to ask questions of a certified trainer at any time while proceeding through the class and can save their work at any step of the program to return later to complete. 

Each module is followed by a quiz, with a 30-question final exam at the conclusion of the course; however, the certification process doesn’t end there.

Following the online portion of the class, students move on to the mandatory hands-on skills assessment, taught by 10 of ComplyAbility’s certified trainers, available to firms all over the country.

“We’ll often partner with an entity like a lumberyard or paint store that sponsor RRP certification for their customers and staff in order to alleviate some of the costs.  Once they pass the online portion, we’ll make arrangements to travel to their facility or meeting location, anywhere in the U.S,” said Knight.

The main purpose of the 2 hour skills assessment is for students to demonstrate the work practices they learned about during the online course. They will be required to, establish interior and exterior containment, perform interior and exterior final cleaning, properly dispose of waste, and keep dust levels low using a HEPA filter vacuum cleaner.  

“HEPA vacuum cleaners are a critical part of the Lead RRP,” said Knight. “The EPA requires they be used to clean walls, furniture, and even workers before they leave the work area. They can also be used to collect dust at the source of sanding and grinding with vacuum-assisted power tools. We even teach our students about safe disposal of waste by using the vacuum cleaner to remove excess air from plastic bags filled with lead debris.”

ComplyAbility relies on Nilfisk GD930 HEPA Vacuums, which were donated by the industrial vacuum manufacturer to be used during hands-on training. While the EPA does not recommend any HEPA vacuums, they do discourage against the use of lower cost shop-style vacuums retrofitted with a HEPA filter in place of the original basic filter.

The GD930 HEPA Vacuum meets the EPA’s definition of a HEPA vacuum cleaner, capturing 99.97% of particulate, down to and including 0.3 microns. The vacuum is also available with a carpet beater bar floor nozzle, another EPA requirement that agitates carpet fibers to collect embedded lead dust.

Upon conclusion of both the online and hands-on training, ComplyAbility processes all paperwork and issues the firm or individual their EPA Lead-Safe Certification, allowing them to legally renovate older homes and schools. The entire ComplyAbility program is offered for just under $200, which is in line with the national average cost of Lead RRP certification classes, but contractors must also apply for a separate Lead RRP license through the EPA, which carries an additional $300 fee.

So, while the Lead RRP requires contractors to invest in both equipment and training, the cost not to comply can result in fines upwards of $37,500 per violation, per day; not to mention potential private lawsuits brought on by homeowners.  Indeed, initial costs will be a heavy burden for some, but considering the deadly effects of lead poisoning, it’s a small price to pay.

For more information on the EPA’s Lead RRP, visit
www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm.

For information on ComplyAbility’s online training program, visit www.leadsafeonline.com 

 HEPA Vacuums Play Critical Role in Lead RRP

On April 22, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead RRP (40 CFR, Part 745, Subpart E) went into effect. The new rule requires contractors performing renovation, repair, and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 to be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.

Among these required work practices are the use of a HEPA-filtered vacuum cleaner, to minimize dust and thoroughly clean the work area.

According to the rule:

• Walls must be cleaned starting at the ceiling and working down to the floor by either vacuuming with a HEPA vacuum or wiping with a damp cloth.

• Remaining surfaces are to be cleaned by thoroughly vacuuming all remaining surfaces and objects in the work area, including furniture and fixtures, with a HEPA vacuum. The HEPA vacuum must be equipped with a beater bar when vacuuming carpets and rugs.

• The use of machines that remove lead-based paint through high speed operation such as sanding, grinding, power planing, needle gun, abrasive blasting, or sandblasting is prohibited unless such machines are used with HEPA exhaust control.

So, what does the EPA mean by a HEPA vacuum cleaner? In 40 CFR 745.83, the EPA states:

“HEPA vacuum means a vacuum cleaner which has been designed with a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter as the last filtration stage. A HEPA filter is a filter that is capable of capturing particles of 0.3 microns with 99.97% efficiency. The vacuum cleaner must be designed so that all the air drawn into the machine is expelled through the HEPA filter with none of the air leaking past it”

For more information on HEPA Vacuum Cleaners for the Lead RRP, visit www.nilfiskcfm.com/vacuum-applications/EPALeadRRP-hepa-vacuum.aspx or call 1-800-645-3475.

IT IS SUPPOSED to be a problem of the past – children poisoned by the lead in the paint in their homes. After all, the government banned lead-based paint from homes in 1978. But the lead already on the walls stayed there. Except it didn’t. It kept getting into kids.

Our image that children become lead-poisoned because they pick and eat chips of peeling paint is dangerously incomplete. Lead paint deteriorates to dust, especially around doors and windows and where workers sand, cut or puncture painted surfaces. This dust is a major source of children’s exposure.

To reduce that exposure, the Environmental Protection Agency required contractors to contain, capture and clean up dust created during renovation, repair or painting of homes that might have lead-based paint. The so-called “RRP rule” also requires contractors to be trained and certified in these practices. The rule, phased in over two years, became fully effective last month.

At a conference on “Lead Paint Poisoning and the Law” at Rutgers Law School, I found myself thinking that the RRP rule is a very good thing, especially after a speaker described research showing how even low levels of lead can devastate a child’s developing brain. The EPA believes the rule is workable, affordable and, above all, worth it: The benefits of protecting millions of children far outweigh the cost, even in purely economic terms.

A study commissioned by New Jersey’s public advocate estimated that in this state alone, reducing blood lead levels in children under 6 could save $27 billion in social costs.

Then I talked to someone whose small business specializes in restoring historic houses.

He understands the need for environmental regulation and obeys the law. But, he wondered, did EPA understand how the costs, especially for smaller jobs, would affect contractors and homeowners? Wouldn’t some owners avoid the expense by doing work themselves or by hiring less careful contractors or even deliberate cheaters?

These questions have lessons for us as we strive, finally, to end childhood lead poisoning. The lessons also apply more generally as the United States enters the fifth decade of modern environmental law.

Enforcement

First, enforcement remains important. Environmental law (like most law) depends on voluntary compliance. The RRP rule will touch millions of people right where they live and right in their bank accounts. Most property owners and contractors will spend the money and do the right thing.

But violating the rule will be tempting. Doing so undetected will seem easy.

Experience with asbestos shows that there will be no shortage of people who, through ignorance or dishonesty, will break the rules. In the Eighties and Nineties, the EPA responded to widespread violations with penalties and court action. That type of aggressive enforcement of the RRP rule is essential to achieve the rule’s purposes and to protect scrupulous contractors from unfair competition by lawbreakers.

Federal and state agencies must commit the resources needed to ensure that compliance is more attractive than violation.

Second, environmental policy, whether it increases or relaxes regulation, inevitably allocates costs. Lead-based paint, applied years ago to housing that today needs renovation or repair, is costing society now. So far, much of the cost has been borne by brain-damaged children and their parents.

The rest of us have paid, too, in the form of taxpayer-financed medical care, special education and law enforcement. Requiring contractors to use lead-safe work practices will shift some of the costs to contractors and their clients, as well as to tenants in rental properties.

Worth the costs?

Are the costs worth it? It depends on how you count. It also depends on where you sit.

As a society, we could choose to spread the costs among ourselves by devoting significant government revenue to abate lead hazards before children are poisoned. Or we might look to the Superfund program as a model for addressing past pollution.

Superfund used taxes and liability to assign the costs of cleaning up a toxic legacy, wherever possible, to industries that had created and profited from it, who would spread the cost to shareholders and customers. The best aspects of that strategy might be adapted to help address the toxic legacy of lead-based paint.

This may seem like an odd time to think about using tax dollars to do anything. But refusing to think about it will not make the problem of lead-based paint go away. It will only affect who pays for the problem.

In the meantime, if you plan to renovate, follow the advice in the EPA booklet your contractor is supposed to give you: Renovate right.

A carpet beater bar is essentially a floor nozzle for a vacuum equipped with a rotating beater bar that spins while the vacuum is in use.  By spinning, it agitates the carpet and loosens any lead dust that might be stuck in carpet fibers.

Nilfisk offers 2 versions of carpet beater bar floor tools for use with our HEPA filter vacuum cleaners, the Turbo Nozzle and Power Nozzle.

The Turbo Nozzle’s carpet beater bar is powered by the working air of the vacuum. This means that the air taken into the vacuum through the vacuum hose, spins the carpet beater bar. The turbo nozzle is available on several of Nilfisk HEPA Filter Vacuums, including the UZ 934, UZ 964, GD 930,  Eliminator I, Eliminator II, and  118. (Part numbers vary, ask our customer service department for more info!)  

 The Power Nozzle is very similiar, except it is plugged into the vacuum cleaner and powered by electricity. The Power Nozzle is only available on the GD 930 and GM 80.

So despite the differences, both the Turbo Nozzle and Power Nozzle when used with a HEPA filter vacuum cleaner are extremely effective in thoroughly cleaning the work area…and the Lead RRP requirements. Still have questions?  Ask us! 

The beater bar on the Turbo Nozzle is powered by the working air of the vacuum.

Question:
We are located in a town where a majority of the homes are pre- 1940. How do the new lead rules apply to home owners who do their own work?

Unfortunately, the rules do not apply to home owners doing their own work!  Also, the rule does not apply if the work is being done by volunteers.  The rule only applies if the work is being done for compensation. If volunteers are being supervised by a paid supervisor, the rule does apply.

Homeowners have no responsibilities under the new EPA RRP rules.  They can do their own work as they please, but are “encouraged” to follow lead safe practices.  If home owners are considering doing their own work, contractors can suggest they read Lead Paint Safety: A Field Guide for Painting, Home Maintenance, and Renovation Work.  This booklet published by HUD will make them aware of lead hazards and the risks they will take if they do their own work.  It also includes very thorough instructions, for working lead safe, specific to performing a variety of projects.  This booklet may help many homeowners realize they are getting in over their head and should hire a professional.  The booklet might also be a great resource for contractors trying to collect effective and innovative lead safe work practices. 

For more information on the lead RRP, check out http://www.nilfiskcfm.com/vacuum-applications/EPALeadRRP.aspx

Even though the industrial sector is now very aware of the risks of combustible dust, we know you still have a  lot of questions. Many of you  still aren’t sure if the material in your plant  is considered “explosive” or if your equipment meets OSHA recommendations. www.explosionproof-vacuum.com strives to answer some of these questions (How do I know if my dust is combustible? Do I really need an explosion-proof vacuum cleaner?). It’s a one stop site to learn about the combustible dust issue and best maintenance practices!

http://ohsonline.com/articles/2009/12/01/combustible-dust-raises-explosive-issues.aspx?sc_lang=en

Enjoy! And of course, if you have any questions, please shoot us an email at questions@nilfisk-advance.com or visit www.explosionproof-vacuum.com