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COMPANY OVERVIEW
Brumbaugh-Herrick, Inc. (BHI) is an environmental, occupational health, and safety-consulting firm founded in 1987. Service, integrity, and value continue to drive our company and impress our clients.
SUMMARY OF SERVICES WE PROVIDE
Asbestos - Surveys, Consulting, Management Plans, Sampling, Project Design, Specifications, Project Oversight & Air Monitoring, PCM Sample Laboratory Analyses, and Training.
Radon – Radon testing and consulting.
IAQ and Mold - Indoor Air Quality Testing, Water Damage Assessments, and Consulting.
Lead-based Paint - Risk Assessments, Inspections, Clearance Sampling, and Training.
Environmental Site Assessments - Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments.
OSHA Consulting - Development of Written Programs, Safety Surveys, and On-site Training.
Industrial Hygiene - Testing, Air Monitoring, and Consulting
Asbestos Consulting & Management
Brumbaugh-Herrick is a leader in the field of asbestos consulting services throughout the Midwest. We have extensive experience in all phases of asbestos management activities.
- Building inspections: AHERA inspections, NESHAP demolition inspections, ASTM inspection, real estate pre-purchase inspections.
- Asbestos Management Plans and O&M programs: Site specific plans that clearly indicate Asbestos Containing Building Material (ACBM) locations and provide a comprehensive plan for ongoing building operations.
- Removal project specifications: Developed by certified Asbestos Project Designers.
- Project oversight and air monitoring during abatement activities: Conducted by trained, licensed, and experienced field hygienists.
- Laboratory analysis performed by our in-house PCM laboratory that is AIHA PAT program accredited.
- Training: On-site Asbestos Awareness training, OSHA Class 3 and 4 training, AHERA Designated Person, and OSHA Asbestos Program Manager training.
Radon Testing
Brumbaugh-Herrick provides indoor Radon testing services to educational, residential, commercial, and industrial clients utilizing EPA methods for short-term or long-term testing.
• Radon Testing - Ohio Dept. of Health licensed with National Radon Proficiency Program certified training.
Lead-Based Paint Hazard Management
Brumbaugh-Herrick provides lead paint hazard management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and school clients. We have completed inspections and risk assessments of single-family, multi-family, educational, HUD projects, and large commercial sites.
· Lead Risk Assessments in accordance with HUD, EPA, and State protocols.
· Lead paint inspections by paint chip sampling (XRF sampling is available).
· Lead project clearance sampling in accordance with HUD, EPA, and State protocols.
Brumbaugh-Herrick has been conducting investigations, assessments, sampling, project design, and project oversight for Indoor Air Quality issues including Mold and Fungal contaminated facilities since 1992. Over the past few years, problems associated with mold growth in buildings have become a prominent liability concern for our clients. Brumbaugh-Herrick has completed numerous IAQ investigations in many cases requiring extensive remediation.
- IAQ/Mold Assessments: Conducted by IICRC trained personnel with experience in conducting investigations geared to provide common sense solutions to IAQ issues. Project remediation design and planning: Project designs that balance the challenges and concerns that confront building owners and occupants. Project monitoring: Protecting the owner’s liabilities and the health of the occupant while ensuring the remediation contractor is in compliance with all current regulations and industry guidelines. Verification/documentation: Providing a quality final report to the building owner to document all remediation activities to ensure protection against potential legal actions.
Health and Safety Consulting
Our consulting staff has a broad range of experience in occupational safety and industrial hygiene consulting.
- OSHA written program development and implementation consulting services OSHA compliance training at your site (initial and annual training) Industrial Hygiene Monitoring
· Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments (ESA)
Brumbaugh-Herrick has been performing site assessments since 1991. We have completed numerous projects including commercial, residential, vacant/undeveloped, and industrial sites. Phase I Environmental Site Assessments are conducted according to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards.
· PCM (Phase Contrast Microscopy) Laboratory Analytical Services
Brumbaugh-Herrick has been providing analytical excellence since 1989 as an AIHA/PAT Program Laboratory (Lab ID 100874). We offer quality analyses to meet any client or contractor turnaround times including night and weekend analyses at no additional charge.
COMPANY BACKGROUND
Brett Brumbaugh is the owner and president of BHI and has been working in the environmental consulting field since 1987. He has extensive experience with environmental issues including asbestos, mold, and lead-based paint as well as many other environmental contaminants. He is certified through the National Registry of Environmental Professionals (NREP), the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and has numerous environmental certifications in the States of Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. He is currently serving on the Board of Trustees of the Building Environment Council of Ohio and is an environmental course instructor for the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine.
The firm is supported by Robert A. Herrick who is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) in the Comprehensive Practice, accredited through the American Board of Industrial Hygienists since 1967. Mr. Herrick is also a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) and has extensive experience concerning environmental issues in commercial, industrial, and educational facilities.
A SAMPLING OF THE CLIENTS WE SERVICE INCLUDE:
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Asbestos Facts
Until the late 1960's asbestos was not recognized for the real health problem it posed to the people who worked in clouds of asbestos dust. In the early 1980's, there was a widespread perception that asbestos was "the killer mineral" that was to be purged as soon as it was found, at any cost.
The reality is:
Asbestos is NOT harmless;
neither is it the ultimate curse of the ages.
Asbestos is a material, like so many others, that presents a health hazard in certain situations. Once the conditions that produce the risk are understood, asbestos management becomes an orderly process.
This Fact Sheet presents some of the basics that lead to a reasonable understanding of asbestos management.
WHAT IS ASBESTOS?
Asbestos is the name for a small group of minerals that are fibrous. There are a half dozen mineral types in the family, only three of which are commercially important; chrysotile, amosite and crocidolite.
· Chrysotile fibers are long and silky and can be woven into cloth. It's the type of asbestos used in the high volume products like asbestos/cement products, floor tile, and brake pads.
· Amosite and tremolite are straight, stiff fibers. These types of asbestos are used where their water resistance and high temperature properties are desirable.
WHAT PRODUCTS MIGHT CONTAIN ASBESTOS? Over 3,000 brand name products that contained asbestos have been identified. While few products are still being made, a lot of asbestos-containing materials remain in service. Durability is one of the characteristics of asbestos. Other characteristics include water resistance, flame resistance, rot and mildew resistance, low thermal and electrical conductivity, and excellence as a fibrous reinforcement. These properties made asbestos products popular in many applications.
The "top five" list of material categories that are suspect for asbestos content are:
· Fireproofing sprayed on structural steel in buildings.
· Pipe, boiler, and tank insulation.
· Wall and ceiling plaster, especially acoustical plaster.
· Asbestos/cement products (pipe, flat sheets, corrugated sheets, siding, and shingles).
· Floor tile and mastics.
· Hundreds of other products including fire doors, gaskets, ceiling tiles, and linoleum backing to name just a few.
The federal EPA's AHERA regulation is considered the most professional approach to total asbestos management. For building inspections AHERA calls for an inventory of suspect materials. All materials in the product categories that at one time were known to be made with asbestos are included as suspect materials. This defers the question of whether the material actually contains asbestos or not.
The list of suspect materials in a building includes everything that might contain asbestos. It's a thorough way to start an asbestos inspection.
WHAT MUST WE DO WHEN WE FIND ASBESTOS?
Maybe nothing, Maybe a lot: IT DEPENDS…
Asbestos is linked to lung disease. In order for that to happen it has to get into someone's lungs. If asbestos doesn't get into the air there's no health hazard. But we don't live in a never/always kind of world. The real question is whether it's likely that there will be airborne asbestos fiber releases and, if so, how frequent and how extensive.
An experienced, certified inspector will evaluate the asbestos-containing materials (ACM) in the building and the activities that could disturb them. An effective, lowest cost asbestos management program starts with this assessment. Developing the program strategy is often a cooperative effort between a specialty consultant such as Brumbaugh-Herrick and the building manager.
An important part of the inspection is the classification of the ACM as friable (crumbly) or non-friable (solid). The more friable the material, the more likely that it will release fibers into the air when it is disturbed. So friable ACM deserves special consideration. Friability increases as materials become damaged, and physical disturbance of the ACM is what releases fibers. The above insulation inventory chart is an example of how information can be presented.
Federal EPA regulations require that all friable ACM be removed from buildings before it is disturbed. This applies to both renovation and demolition activities. Since all buildings will eventually be demolished it is a true statement that EPA regulations require that all friable ACM must be removed.
For some buildings asbestos removal will not need to be done for many years. Protecting service personnel, contractors and maintenance workers from asbestos exposure is responsible facility management. This requires a program of first informing these workers of the presence of ACM, then training them in asbestos Operations & Maintenance work practices if their work will cause disturbance of small areas of ACM. An effective O&M program protects building occupants from the hazards of asbestos.
When it is appropriate to conduct an asbestos removal project a professional project design firm prepares plans and specifications on which asbestos contractors will submit bids. Good plans and specifications are a sound investment. Asbestos contracting is known for the wide disparity in bid amounts when contractors are uncertain about exactly what the building owner expects. Bidders compensate for uncertainty with elevated bids. The goal of good plans and specifications is to enable an effective, safe job at the lowest fair price in a competitive marketplace.
Nothing a building owner can do will guarantee there will be no lawsuits, but for asbestos projects there are ways to keep from losing them. The answer is first to do the job properly, but that's not enough by itself. Continuous third party observation of the work with the right to suspend contractor activity at the onset of problems, with regular testing to confirm the absence of contamination, are the anchors of project documentation. Once the contractor is off the job site the only thing left is the documentation.
Contact Brett Brumbaugh of Brumbaugh-Herrick, Inc. for further information.
Phone: 419-382-9574
Fax: 419-382-9584
7920 N. Woodbridge Rd., Monclova, OH 43542
e-mail: brett@brumbaugh-herrick.com
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