• The federal regulation committee that oversees health hazards such as asbestos exposure in the workplace is OSHA, the Occupational and Safety Health Administration. The laws enforce environmental issues for corporations dealing with the public, workplace safety and exposure elements. The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, determines how private citizens must handle revealed asbestos and also works with OSHA to govern business and environmental occurrences of asbestos.
  
  

Exposure Limits

• New asbestos laws in 2006 determined that workplace levels of exposure must be lower than 0.1 fibers per centimeter over an entire eight hours. Even if a jobsite meets that requirement, no more than one fiber per cubic centimeter is allowed during any single 30-minute time period.
  
  

Protection

• Protective clothing must be provided to all employees who have the potential to come in contact with asbestos materials. This clothing includes respiratory HEPA filter masks, full-sleeved shirts, long pants and gloves. When an employee is involved with a worksite where asbestos is found, there must also be adequate facilities for wash down to get rid of any fibers left over after removing protective clothing.
  
  

Health Exams and Training

• All employees engaged in asbestos related activities require routine exams and adequate training on the handling of asbestos.
  
  

Duty to Manage

• The EPA and OSHA laws decree that the person responsible for a commercial property has a duty to ensure the area is safe and free of asbestos danger. Furthermore, that person is responsible for overseeing the proper cleanup of exposed and/or damaged asbestos property.
  
  

Risk Managment

• Asbestos is considered a higher risk depending on how easy it is to access, if it is damaged or worn, and if it is in a high traffic area. Commercial areas with low-risk asbestos may not have to remove the material unless it begins to pose a threat, but it must be watched. Private homes with undamaged or worn asbestos material that can be covered may solve an asbestos problem like that without increasing risk by removing the product.
  
  

Non-Commercial

• The EPA requires home owners who find asbestos products in the home to use professionally trained workers to have it removed. Products containing asbestos were widely used prior to 1970 and any home built before then should be considered suspect for asbestos floor tile, floor felting, siding and roofing. It is against the law to dispose of asbestos related materials in regular receptacles or waste removal.
  
  

Assessment

• The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry works alongside OSHA and the EPA to determine what risks exist in areas where latent asbestos exposure is uncovered.