PCC Now Certified to Offer Courses on Lead-Safe Practices

WINTERVILLE�Pitt Community College�s Continuing Education Division received certification this month to offer training that satisfies new Environmental Protection Agency regulations for contractors who work with lead-based paint.

In October, the EPA proposed expansion of the �Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting Program� approved in 2008. The proposal, which is expected to take effect in April, requires contractors to be certified in lead-safe practices in order to renovate, repair or paint a pre-1978 dwelling.

Gail Nichols, PCC�s Small Business Center Coordinator, said Pitt began taking steps to teach lead-safe practices nearly a year ago, �when (it) first came to our attention� that companies working on pre-1978 structures could be heavily fined for violating the EPA�s expanded regulation.

Nichols says PCC will offer both initial and refresher courses in lead-safe practices beginning Feb. 19-20. She said the classes are for contractors whose work on a pre-1978 structure disturbs more than six square feet of interior painted surface or 20 square feet of exterior surface.

Each 10-hour course, Nichols said, will take place in a traditional classroom setting at a cost of $200 per student, which includes books and supplies.

She said the classes would cover a number of topics, including why lead-based paint is a problem during renovations, determining if lead-based paint affects work, setting up a work area to contain dust, cleaning a work area, disposing of waste safely, and proper documentation practices.

�This training is a very important because lead-based paint can be a deadly problem,� Nichols said. �People, especially children, die from lead exposure every day.�

While the federal government banned lead-based paint for residential use in 1978, millions of U.S. homes still contain it. Renovation activities that disturb lead-based paint can create lead hazards that can have wide-ranging effects on health, from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death. Children six years old and under are most at risk.

The EPA�s 2008 regulation of lead-safe practices requires contractors working in pre-1978 housing where children under six or pregnant women reside to take the proper precautions to work lead-safe, including minimizing dust, containing the work area, and conducting a thorough cleanup to reduce the potential exposure associated with disturbing lead-based paint.

According to the EPA�s website, the new regulation is one component of a comprehensive program that will also include an education and outreach campaign to promote lead-safe work practices. This program is expected to help meet the goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning as a major public health concern this year.

For more information on PCC�s lead-safe practices training options, call (252) 493-7625.

01/20/2010