Here's a pop quiz for the safety-minded: Why was1978 a hallmark year in safety?

Answer: That was the year the United States banned lead in paint.

It's just too bad that so many people live in homes that were built before 1978. If you live in one of these older homes, you need to understand the risks and take prudent steps to deal with them. This article will tell you how.

Dangers of Lead Paint to Children

Over time, lead paint cracks and turns to dust. Chips and dusts can be ingested by residents. But the young are particularly vulnerable. Children under age six have hand-to-mouth behaviors that cause great risk. In addition to eating lead paint chips, a child may wipe his or her hand on the floor, causing lead dust to stick to the hand. That hand might well end up in the child's mouth before it's cleaned.

High levels of lead exposure can lead to:

• Blood anemia
• Severe stomachache
• Muscle weakness
• Brain damage.

Even lower levels of exposure adversely affect a child's blood, brain function and mental and physical growth.

Dangers of Lead Paint to the Unborn

Effects of lead dust are extremely harmful to fetuses. Unborn children exposed to lead through their mothers may:

• Be born prematurely
• Have a decreased mental ability
• Experience learning difficulties
• Experience reduced growth.

These effects often extend beyond childhood.

Dangers of Lead Paint to Adults

Adults can also experience lead poisoning, but most adult poisoning occurs in an industrial setting, unless the dwelling has severe lead hazards. Another cause of adult lead poisoning are hobbies that involve the use of lead. These hobbies include:

• Making stained-glass windows
• Furniture-stripping, or
• Making bullets or fishing weights.

Conclusion

The first protection against exposure to lead is to be aware of the danger. Next week, in Part 2, we'll outline a step-by-step solution you can use to protect your children, unborn and yourself.

Safety History Lead-Based Paint Timeline		1925 US acknowledges lead-based paint as toxic to children
1897	Australia: children becoming ill after chewing on porch railings
1909	France, Belgium and Austria: ban white-lead interior paint
1907	Australia: specialists noted that lead poisoning was a direct result of paint powder stuck to children's fingers, which they then put in their mouths
1910	United States: toxicity of lead paint to workers known from a House of Representatives committee hearing on the hazardous properties of lead paint
1921	United States: National Lead Company admits lead is a poison
1922	League of Nations bans white-lead interior paint; US declines to adopt
1922	Tunisia and Greece ban white-lead interior paint
1925	United States: toxicity to children was acknowledged
1926	Great Britain, Sweden, and Belgium ban white-lead interior paint
1927	Poland bans white-lead interior paint
1930	United States: specialists reach consensus that lead paint poses significant hazard to children
1931	Spain and Yugoslavia ban white-lead interior paint
1943	United States: TIME magazine made childhood lead poisoning a national issue by reporting that "parents' lack of understanding of the dangers of lead-based paint led many to use the toxic material on toys, cribs and windowsills. When children chewed the painted surfaces, a variety of physical and nervous disorders resulted."
1945	United States: the Lead Industry Association developed a campaign to counteract the negative image of lead.  They continued to argue that there was minimal danger to the public from lead paint.
1955	United States: CPSC lowered the limit of lead in paint to 1.0 %
1956	United States: July issue of PARADE magazine article "Don't Let YOUR Child Get Lead Poisoning," reached more than seven million readers, while CBS carried a broadcast on childhood lead poisoning.
1970	United States: federal legislation prohibited the use of lead paint in federally financed and subsidized housing.
1971	United States: Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act passed
1971	United States: CDC lowers the limit for a lead poisoned child to 40 micrograms /deciliter (um/dl)
1975	United States: CDC lowers the limit for a lead poisoned child to 30 ug/dL
1978	United States: CPSC bans the use of all lead paint after February 1978 by limiting the amount of lead to not more than 0.6% of lead in the paint.

MEMBER REPLIES

Golfcart Safety

So, who knew? Last week's golf cart safety article produced an unexpectedly high volume of member mail, much of it quite useful. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. Here are a few of your comments:

More Safety Tips

Excellent article on golf carts, which increasingly are found off the course. I noted one omission: If used outside your plant, add the universal "slow moving vehicle" sign on the rear. Also, if it may cross or use short lengths of city streets to pass between plants and warehouses, check with your local police or Sheriff's office as to any special rules they impose.

Gerald Edgar

Should Seatbelts be Mandatory?

I have never seen golf carts come from the manufacturers with seatbelts installed. In comparing it to construction safety and vehicles without rollover bars, seatbelts are not required. Would this same logic apply to golf carts since they usually don't come with rollover protection?

Roger L. Fritze, CPP, CHSP, MBA

Ambiguous Classifications

As a manufacturer that has Class 1 and Class 2 areas in our plant, we have had an issue in the past of employees driving golf carts into these areas. We have EE rated forklifts that are designed for operating safely in these environments, but golf carts have no NFPA ratings, therefore using them in these environments can lead to disastrous consequences. It has taken constant training and re-enforcement of that training to all employees to realize once again that all things with 3 or 4 wheels are not made equal.

I have also been told by a local Fed OSHA Compliance Officer that in most circumstances, golf carts are considered Powered Industrial Trucks and therefore are subject to the training, maintenance and inspection provisions of 1910.178. Personally, I am not sure if that will hold under appeal. It is an interesting interpretation to say the least.

Joe Malato, CFPS

The Hazards are Real

As a safety professional and avid golfer, I appreciated the comments re golf cart safety. I've seen my fellow golfers do some pretty stupid things that eventually got them hurt...like falling out of the passenger seat, running head-on into trees and suffering ankle injuries while hanging their feet out of the cart...many of the injuries were alcohol related.

My company also use carts at several of our industrial facilities. Employees must receive orientation training on the safety aspects of operating the cart before being allowed to drive.

Anonymous

Timing on your story is appropriate. In Chicago over the weekend we had a golf cart accident that resulted in the drowning of a security guard for one of the harbors on Lake Michigan. He was a passenger. The driver hit a concrete barrier, the cart flipped over into the water and the driver managed to escape and survive. The passenger drowned. Very tragic. Very preventable.

Tim Murphy

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