An asbestos cleanup company did not take the mandatory steps to protect its workers from asbestos exposure while it was renovating a nursing home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to the federal agency.
OSHA reported in late October that it is seeking a fine of $243,000 from A&A Environmental from Poynette WI. Almost $200,000 of the fines stem from four safety rule violations that OSHA alleges were purposeful. This means that the company knowingly did not comply or was acting with indifference to the safety of employees.
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Mesothelioma is known to be a very dangerous disease, and the survival rate is only 10% after five years. However, with current treatments, there are some patients who have been able to survive up to 20 years. The problem with mesothelioma is that it often is in a late stage by the time the symptoms are noticed, and it may be too late at that point.
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The willful violations that OSHA mentioned alleged that the company did not provide a separate area for decontamination for workers to take a shower and to remove their work clothes before leaving the site. Also, the company did not have a separate room for its asbestos containing equipment. OSHA also stated that the company did not stop workers from drinking water and other beverages inside the asbestos containment portion of the facility.
OSHA conducted an inspection of the New Glarus work site after several workers were sickened by carbon monoxide exposure in April. Other than the asbestos violations, the company also was cited for not protecting workers from carbon monoxide and exposing workers to levels of gas that were above the allowed level.
About Asbestos Cleanup
Asbestos is a highly effective and cheap fire retardant material that was used heavily in construction from the 1940s until the 1970s. However, as you probably know, asbestos is now known to cause serious lung diseases, including mesothelioma. When asbestos fibers are disturbed, they can float in the air and damage lung tissue, leading to many other health problems as well.
If you have a home that was built before 1975, asbestos could be in thermal insulation in your basement boiler and pipes. Also, asbestos may be found in other common household materials:
- Floor tiles
- Linoleum
- Window glazing and caulking
- Siding
- Plaster
- Fiber cement
- HVAC duct insulation
- Some types of paint
If you are in an older home, the mere presence of asbestos is not necessarily dangerous to your health. Asbestos containing materials that are in good condition will not put asbestos fibers into the air. However, disturbing it can lead to health hazards.
If you know you have asbestos in your home, the best thing to do is to not bother it. The problem can be when asbestos materials get damaged over the years. Asbestos crumbles very easily when you handle it. Or, if it has been scraped, sawed or sanded, it will release fibers into the air and can be very dangerous.
If you are planning to do any renovations of parts of your home that could disturb asbestos, you will need to bring in professionals to remove the asbestos safely. However, before you call in the asbestos abatement team, you may want to talk to an industrial hygiene company to take a look at the affected part of the home.
A full assessment will include a visual examination, and very careful collection and sample analysis. If there is asbestos there, the inspector should give you a complete, written evaluation that describes the location of the asbestos and its condition. He also should give you some options to correct the issue.
Once you have this report, you should talk to an asbestos abatement professional and talk about cleanup options. Before any work starts, you should get a full, written contract that specifies what will be done, what is going to be cleaned up, and what state, local and federal laws have to be followed for the job to be done legally.
It is very important that the job be done according to law; if not, the government could come into the home and deem it an unsafe place to live. Then the problems will have to be corrected before the home can be inhabited again.
