Lead Paint

Old coatings hide lead. Disturb them wrong and you carry it home. Contain it, control the dust, and clean up clean.

Field guideOwner · Site SupervisorRPD WHS Manual V8.0

Start safeControl the riskStop when it changes

Scroll the journey

1

When it applies

If you're doing any of this, this guide is in play.

Scraping

Sanding

Grinding

Burning

Blasting

Demolition

Repainting old coatings

2

Before you start

Before the work begins, the Site Supervisor confirms — and you check your own work area.

Age of coating

Test results

Method & containment

Waste pathway

Lead-risk work notification

3

The controls

Work down the hierarchy — collective protection first, PPE last. PPE never carries the job on its own.

EliminateDesign the hazard out
SubstituteUse a lower-risk method
IsolateSeparate people from the hazard
EngineeringGuard, extract, contain
AdminSWMS, permits, training, signage
PPELast line — fitted & worn

The RPD rule

Avoid generating dust or fume. Use containment, wet methods, HEPA extraction, hygiene controls, suitable RPE/PPE and controlled waste disposal.

ContainmentWet methodsHEPAHygieneControlled waste

Hold point — never skip

Do not disturb suspect lead paint until the controls and waste pathway are set.

Set the containment and the waste pathway first; once you start disturbing the coating it's too late to plan.

5

Stop & escalate

See any one of these? The job stops until it's fixed — no exceptions.

Contamination spreads
Workers can't decontaminate
Lead-risk triggers health monitoring / notification

Stop work→ tell the Site Supervisor → don't restart until the control is back and the SWMS is reviewed.

6

What gets recorded

The job isn't done until the evidence exists. Live records go in Breadcrumb.

Breadcrumb · live site

SWMS
SDS
Inductions / training records
Hazard reporting for suspect lead
Site alerts for exclusion / hygiene