Albany Asbestos Company Faces OSHA Sanctions
Following an investigation that began in August of last year, Albany’s Lorice Enterprises, LLC, faces nine violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The company is accused of not taking proper precautions to minimize the risk of injury and illness to its workers.
According to an OSHA press release, Lorice Enterprises is accused of nine different violations. These violations carry fines totaling more than $83,000.
The company is in the business of asbestos removal, an industry filled with tight regulations and safety rules, all designed to keep workers’ risks at a minimum. Exposure to asbestos can cause lung cancer and other forms of respiratory disease in humans.
The investigation began when OSHA was contacted by the New York State Asbestos Control Bureau. It resulted in eight serious violations, totaling $34,300 in fines, and one willful violation with a $49,000 fine. Willful citations are those that are committed with “intentional, knowing, or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.”
That violation, in this case, was in failing to conduct an initial exposure assessment to see just how much asbestos workers would be exposed to while removing asbestos-containing roofing material. Also, OSHA says, the company failed to follow protocol in using wet methods and other safety precautions to ensure the asbestos didn’t become airborne and become an even bigger danger to workers. Finally, the company is cited with failing to ensure head and eye protection for the employees.
“One of the best means of preventing serious workplace hazards is to establish an effective safety and health management system through which management and employees work together to actively identify, analyze, and eliminate work-related hazards,” said OSHA’s regional administrator Robert Kulick.
OSHA explains that the company has 15 days to contest the citations, comply, or request a conference.
Despite the red tape and what can seem like nitpicking, OSHA sets regulations for the good of the workers. They are there to help ensure employers do everything possible to reduce the risk of a construction accident. It’s when employers fail to follow these standards or fail to provide the oversight to job supervisors and employees, that the risks are elevated.
When you work in construction—whether it’s in asbestos removal or roofing—the risks are always present. But, when an accident occurs, this fact is no consolation.
The construction accident lawyers of Ginarte work to represent injured construction workers in New York and New Jersey. Whether you fell on the job or were exposed to toxic particles or fumes, we may be able to help. Contact us today by calling (888) GINARTE.
