Jamestown, NY, company to be fined by OSHA for asbestos violations

In February 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it had cited a Jamestown, NY steel and metal fabricating company for 18 alleged violations relating to their failure to protect temporary workers from asbestos hazards at a job site. The company had hired a number of temporary employees to remove asbestos-containing insulation from steam pipes.

The company received four OSHA citations for their failure to perform air monitoring to determine the level of asbestos at the site; and failure to provide workers with respirators, protective clothing and asbestos training. The citations could mean possible fines of up to $224,000.

The company had also been subject to 14 previous citations for failing to determine the presence, location and quantity of asbestos-containing material; failure to establish a regulated work area; failure to properly clean and dispose of asbestos-containing materials and contaminated clothing; failure to inform employees and tenants of the asbestos removal; failure to label asbestos-containing insulation and trash bags; and failure to have the asbestos abatement project competently supervised.

Exposure to asbestos is known to cause serious diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis.

Weitz & Luxenberg is a leading plaintiffs' law firm that has represented people affected by mesothelioma for over 20 years. Men and women diagnosed with mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure may be entitled to compensation from the companies responsible for their disease.

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