Page 34 - The City and Guilds Textbook: Plumbing Book 1 for the Level 3 Apprenticeship (9189), Level 2 Technical Certificate (8202) and Level 2 Diploma (6035)

The City & Guilds Textbook: Plumbing Book 1

Working with lead

As part of your job as a plumber, you may be asked to work with lead, whether
it is replacing a lead pipe or installing lead sheet weatherings (sheet lead shaped
and positioned on roofs and chimneys to prevent the rain getting in) and roof
work. Lead is a highly toxic metal that can enter the body through:

● absorption – touching and handling lead without the use of barrier cream
p Figure 1.9 Lead work
● ingestion – not observing personal hygiene by not washing your hands before
eating and drinking after handling lead
● inhalation – by breathing lead fumes when lead welding or soldering with
leaded solder.
Lead is a very powerful neurotoxin that damages the central nervous system
and leads to brain and blood disorders. Lead oxide in the form of a white powder
from the corrosion of lead is particularly dangerous. The symptoms of lead
poisoning are:

● headaches
● tiredness
● irritability
● constipation
● nausea
● stomach pains
● anaemia (lack of healthy red blood cells)
● loss of weight.

Continued uncontrolled exposure could cause more serious symptoms, such as:
● kidney damage
● nerve and brain damage
● infertility.

Employer and employee health and safety responsibilities when
working with lead
If you are exposed to lead or lead compounds, such as lead oxide, dust, fume or
vapour from lead welding or smelting, while you are at work, your employer must:
● assess the risk to your health, to decide whether or not your exposure is
‘significant’ and what precautions are needed to protect you
● put in place systems of work, such as fume and dust extraction, to prevent or
control your exposure to lead and keep equipment in good working order
● provide washing and changing facilities, and places free from lead
contamination where you can eat and drink
● inform you about the risks to your health from working with lead, and the
precautions you should take
● train you to use any control measures and protective equipment correctly
● provide you with protective clothing and arrange for that clothing to be
laundered
● measure the amount of lead in the air that you are exposed to and tell you
the results; if your exposure to lead cannot be kept below a certain level then
your employer must issue you with respiratory protective equipment

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