The American Society of Safety Engineers intends to develop a standard aimed at protecting workers when dealing with mold remediation. The purpose of the standard is to create minimum requirements and recommended procedures to be implemented by employers to reduce employee exposure to mold.

The proposed standard will not establish an exposure level or action level for identification purposes or trigger remediation activities.

Although adverse effects from exposure to some types of mold have been reported, ASSE stated that “there is no conclusive link to pulmonary hemorrhage nor is there conclusive evidence that mold-related illnesses are increasing. Currently there is no consensus among safety, health and environment and healthcare professionals as to the level of mold exposure that is acceptable in indoor environments.”

However, the group believes that reducing worker exposure to mold is important.

“We cannot wait until we are comfortable with the science of mold; we need to protect workers from potential adverse effects now,” said Mary Ann Latko, ASSE Environmental Practice Specialty member.