Olivet Management LLC, a real estate development and management company, faces $2.3 million in proposed fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA says the company exposed its own employees, as well as employees for 13 contractors, to asbestos and lead hazards during cleanup operations at the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in Dover Plains, N.Y., prior to a tour of the site by potential investors.
“Olivet knew that asbestos and lead were present at this site, yet the company chose to ignore its responsibility to protect its own workers and contractors,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “The intolerable choice this company made put not only workers, but also their families, in danger.”
OSHA determined that Olivet knowingly failed to take basic safety precautions and did not inform their own employees or contractors about the presence of asbestos and lead, despite knowing that both hazards existed. OSHA says the workers were exposed during removal of asbestos- and lead-contaminated debris, asbestos floor tiles and insulation, and lead paint from walls, windows, door frames, and other painted surfaces.
Olivet, OSHA alleges, did not: monitor workers’ exposure levels; provide appropriate respiratory protection; nor post notices, warning signs and labels to alert workers and contractors to the presence of asbestos and lead. The company also did not provide clean changing and decontamination areas for workers, many of whom wore their contaminated clothing home to households with small children, OSHA says.
In January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration ordered Olivet to stop all work that could disturb asbestos at the facility; and it is continuing to investigate the case.
(https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=25812)
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | May 7, 2015
Lavish residential skyscrapers prompt concern over shadows
New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston among cities grappling with height regulations.
Codes and Standards | May 7, 2015
Several states moving to repeal prevailing wage laws
Anti-prevailing wage bills that apply to state-funded construction projects have been passed in West Virginia and Nevada. Similar laws could be passed in Indiana and Illinois.
Codes and Standards | May 7, 2015
New OSHA rule aimed at protecting construction workers in confined spaces
The agency says the rule will protect about 800 workers a year from serious injury.
Codes and Standards | May 1, 2015
Colorado House kills construction defects bill
The legislation would have made it harder for condo owners to sue builders.
Codes and Standards | May 1, 2015
New energy efficiency program, Tenant Star, gets OK from Congress
The voluntary program for commercial and government buildings is modeled after Energy Star.
Smart Buildings | May 1, 2015
FEMA to require states to evaluate risks posed by climate change
The aim is for states to do a better job planning for natural disasters they are likely to face in a warming world.
Codes and Standards | May 1, 2015
Department of Energy asks for feedback on cost-effectiveness of building energy codes
DOE’s RFI wants input on how to improve methodology on cost assessment.
Codes and Standards | Apr 22, 2015
New York State renews design-build authority
Five state agencies are allowed to use design-build on certain projects.
Codes and Standards | Apr 22, 2015
OSHA’s estimated cost of silica rule said to underestimate impact by $4.5 billion annually
The coalition says that OSHA’s flawed cost estimates point to flaws in the rule, and has urged the federal agency to reconsider its approach.
Codes and Standards | Apr 22, 2015
2016 Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings draft available for public review
The comment period is open until May 29.