Employees working in battery manufacturing plants may potentially be exposed to lead concentrations greater than the OSHA permissible exposure limit.

Battery Manufacturing is the process of producing lead-acid batteries, commonly used in automobiles, fork trucks, material handling, and standby power applications.

 

Oxide and Grid Production, Plate Processing, Battery Assembly, Battery Repair and Reclaim, Environmental Controls, and Maintenance are operations workers perform in battery manufacturing plants.

Information on potential sources of exposure, Engineering Controls, work practices, and OSHA Lead Requirements are provided to assist in compliance with the OSHA Lead Standard.

Respiratory protection and medical surveillance are not addressed in this eTool. However, they are essential for controlling lead exposure levels and preventing lead-related disease when engineering and work practice controls, including administrative controls such as employee rotation, to the extent feasible, do not reduce airborne lead levels below the permissible exposure limit. Please refer to respiratory protection and medical surveillance for more information.

The OSHA Lead Standard requires the employer to reduce employee exposure to the lowest feasible level through the use of engineering and work practice controls [29 CFR 1910.1025(e)(1)]. The engineering and work practice controls addressed in this eTool have been shown to reduce employee exposure and are provided to assist employers and employees in complying with the OSHA Lead Standard. It is the employer's responsibility to evaluate the sources of exposure and the specific controls for operations that are necessary to comply with the Lead Standard.

 

See OSHA's Workers' Rights page for more information on rights and protections.

Disclaimer

eTools are "stand-alone", illustrated, Web-based training tools on occupational safety and health topics. As indicated in the disclaimer, eTools do not create new OSHA requirements.