OSHA has cited the University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital and DGA Builders LLC, both of Rochester, for 14 serious violations of workplace safety and health standards, chiefly involving asbestos. The companies face a combined total of $53,200 in proposed fines, following an inspection.
Mining fatalities decrease, New Mexico ag workers exposed to pesticides and the reasons behind the construction industry’s resistance to using fall protection are among the week’s EHS-related stories as featured on ISHN.com:
Granddaughter who did asbestos worker's laundry suffered lung disease
July 10, 2013
Maryland’s Court of Appeals has ruled that asbestos companies are not responsible for illnesses suffered by family members of asbestos workers who brought the substance home with them in their clothing prior to 1972.
OSHA has cited an asbestos remediation company for nine alleged violations of safety and health standards -- including one willful – related to its removal of roofing material containing asbestos. Lorice Enterprises LLC of Albany, N.Y. faces a total $83,300 in proposed fines.
No PPE for Houston workers cutting into asbestos-containing pipes
November 15, 2012
While repairing water mains in 2011, workers in Houston were not informed that the pipes they were dealing with were composed of 35 percent asbestos. They were not provided with personal protective equipment needed for handling asbestos.
The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island – which hosts the home rink for the New York Islanders hockey team – has exposed its workers to asbestos, electrical and chemical hazards, according to OSHA.
OSHA has cited seven construction companies – three Miami-based contractors and four San Antonio-based subcontractors – with 45 serious and one other-than-serious violation for exposing workers to asbestos hazards at a San Antonio construction work site. Proposed penalties total $148,000.
An employee who reported improper asbestos removal practices was fired and subjected to verbal threats and legal action, according to OSHA, which conducted a whistleblower investigation into the case.
OSHA has cited Sodexho Inc. with safety and health violations – 12 of them serious – found while maintenance workers removed asbestos at Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi. OSHA initiated an inspection March 8 in response to a complaint. Proposed fines total $81,000.
Epidemiologists and other health experts from more than 20 countries are calling for a global ban on the mining, use and export of all forms of asbestos because exposure to the toxic chemical causes mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestiosis.