Occupational Exposure to Asbestos; Emergency Temporary Standard (1983)

Complete Federal Register text (cover and pp. 51086-51140) of OSHA's emergency temporary standard for asbestos, signed by Assistant Secretary Thorne G. Auchter on November 2, 1983 and effective November 4, 1983. It cut the permissible exposure limit from 2 to 0.5 fibers per cubic centimeter as an eight-hour average, on OSHA's finding that exposure above that level posed a grave danger of asbestos-related cancer and asbestosis. The preamble covers health data, a quantitative risk assessment and feasibility. The rule required training within 30 days and set respirator and warning-sign rules for the ETS period; it also served as a proposal for the permanent standard.