Angie's List Offers Lead Safety Tours

A major consumer-oriented company, Angie's List, offering Lead Safety Tours. The one in Los Angeles is scheduled for October 6. Experts at the Lead Safety Tour will offer blood level testing for children and there will be U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved training for contractors who work with lead-based. paint.

The contractor training is being done in response to a study conducted by Angie's list where nearly 200 painters, remodelers and home improvement stores were contacted to find out if they offer proper advice and/or follow lead-safe work practices in homes where they're working. Roughly one third gave information that could be harmful to children. As a result, Angie's list decided to partner with knowledgable contractors to up the learning curve on proper techniques for working in home and other areas that could have lead-based paint.

There will also be informal seminars for homeowners about what they need to know when hiring contractors. The information provided will be aimed at helping homeowners reduce the possibility of exposing lead-based paint and ways to get rid of it safely. There will also be a tutorial for do-it-yourselfers who might accidentally disturb lead-based paint.

An Angie's List member survey, conducted in conjunction with the investigation, found that 51 percent of poll respondents live in a home built prior to 1978. Of those members, 75 percent said their contractor failed to warn them about the possible dangers of lead-based paint, and 85 percent never received the pamphlet.