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 | Apr 18, 2022
Dept. of Energy has RFI on funding cost-effective updated energy codes implementation
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) has issued a request for information regarding funding cost-effective implementation of updated building energy codes.
Legislation | Apr 14, 2022
Defense Dept. building largest 3D-printed structures in Western Hemisphere
The U.S. Department of Defense is constructing three barracks at the Camp Swift Training Center in Bastrop, Texas that will each be the largest 3D-printed structures in the Americas.
Wood | Apr 13, 2022
Mass timber: Multifamily’s next big building system
Mass timber construction experts offer advice on how to use prefabricated wood systems to help you reach for the heights with your next apartment or condominium project.
Codes and Standards | Apr 13, 2022
LEED multifamily properties fetch higher rents and sales premiums
LEED-certified multifamily properties consistently receive higher rents than non-certified rental complexes, according to a Cushman & Wakefield study of two decades of data on Class A multifamily assets with 50 units or more.
Legislation | Apr 11, 2022
Dept. of Energy releases RFI for K-12 schools energy upgrade program
The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) released a Request for Information (RFI) to help decide how best to spend $500 million from the recently passed federal infrastructure law for K-12 public school energy upgrades.
Codes and Standards | Apr 8, 2022
Dept. of Energy boosts energy efficiency standards for federal buildings
The Department of Energy’s recently released new energy efficiency standards for federal buildings.
Codes and Standards | Apr 7, 2022
Uptake of low-carbon materials expected to get a boost from federal building plan
Low-carbon materials will get a sizeable boost via purchases through a federal $3.4 billion building plan to modernize U.S. border crossings.
Codes and Standards | Apr 6, 2022
ABC and AFSP form partnership on mental health and suicide prevention in construction
Associated Builders and Contractors and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention recently formed a partnership to address mental health and suicide prevention in the U.S. construction industry.
Codes and Standards | Apr 5, 2022
New York City chooses 20 firms for architectural design services on future public building projects
The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) has contracted with 20 firms to provide architectural design services for the city’s future public buildings projects under the latest round of DDC’s Project Excellence Program.
Codes and Standards | Apr 4, 2022
Construction of industrial space continues robust growth
Construction and development of new industrial space in the U.S. remains robust, with all signs pointing to another big year in this market segment