Occupational Health Monitoring — Lead Procedure

SCS-HS-PRO-LEAD-001 · REV 2.0 · 26 SEPTEMBER 2026

STATUS: CONTROLLED — CURRENT
OWNER: Health & Safety Lead
APPROVED BY: SCS Director / Officer
SECTION: 4 of 11

PEOPLESAFERSPACESSTRONGERTOGETHER

SECTION 01

Risk-based monitoring procedure

Blood lead is biological exposure monitoring. It is risk-based and occupational-health-led — it is not an automatic test for every painter.
Triggers for occupational-health / hygiene review: recurring or higher-potential lead disturbance, serious or ongoing exposure risk, uncertain exposure, control failure, an elevated monitoring result, or a worker health concern.
Baseline blood lead level (BLL) where recommended or required for the exposure profile.
Periodic BLL frequency is set by a competent occupational-health practitioner. SCS does not apply a universal interval.
Triggered BLL following significant exposure, control failure or practitioner advice.
Personal breathing-zone exposure monitoring where needed to quantify exposure, verify controls or support RPE selection.
Monitoring is not a control and never replaces source control.
Ideally, workers who are pregnant, breastfeeding or planning pregnancy have no workplace lead exposure.
Confidential health reports are held separately by the provider / H&S Lead with restricted access. The operational register stores only provider, dates, status, due dates, work restrictions and remedial actions.
Applicable health and exposure monitoring records are retained for 30 years.
The worker receives their report as soon as practicable where applicable.
This system does not diagnose, interpret fitness for work or determine work causation. Interpretation is by a competent practitioner.
Where a practitioner recommends remedial action or work restriction, a follow-up action is raised, tracked and closed out.
A regulator-notification assessment is completed where a notifiable event or illness may have occurred.

SECTION 02

Reference values

WorkSafe NZ risk criteria / guidance values — 16th edition WES / BEI (effective July 2026)

CRITERION	VALUE
Inorganic lead dust / fume — WES-TWA	0.05 mg/m³
Blood lead BEI — males, and females not of reproductive capacity	10 µg/dL (0.48 µmol/L)
Biological reference value — females of reproductive capacity, pregnant or breastfeeding	3 µg/dL (0.14 µmol/L)

GUIDANCE VALUES — NOT PASS / FAIL LIMITS

These are WorkSafe risk criteria and guidance values, not prescribed pass / fail limits. Results require competent occupational-health interpretation.

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SECTION —

Document approval

ROLE	NAME / POSITION	STATUS
Prepared / reviewed	Health & Safety Lead	REVIEWED
Approved	SCS Director / Officer	APPROVED