Asbestos Violations Job Site May Result in Significant Fines for Lockport, NY Contracting Company

OSHA investigation into asbestos violations at Buffalo, NY job site may result in fines in excess of $400,000 for Lockport-based contractor. Workers at site were exposed to asbestos, a dangerous, cancer causing mineral known to cause serious diseases including mesothelioma cancer, asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis.

In December 2009, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) announced that it had cited an upstate New York contractor and his company for a number of alleged asbestos violations. The company had been hired to remove asbestos-containing material (ACM) and debris at a Buffalo area department store warehouse.

The company was charged with 11 asbestos violations, including

Failure to properly hire workers experienced in the removal of asbestos materials;

Failure to advise workers that they would be removing ACM;

Failure to provide training in the handling and removal of ACM;

Failure to provide protective equipment and respirators to workers to prevent inhalation of asbestos dusts;

Failure to properly determine the levels and amounts of ACM present;

Failure to establish a regulated work area for the removal and handling of ACM; and

Failure to follow OSSHA procedures for the removal of ACM.

According to OSHA, the contractor was a highly experienced asbestos contractor and had significant knowledge of federal OSHA and state regulations regarding the handling and removal of ACM. The man faces potential penalties in excess of $480,000 for the violations.

Untrained Workers Put at Risk for Illness Many Decades After Performing Work
An OSHA spokesperson commenting on the case advised that the man had hired inexperienced workers to perform the job, including college students.

Each of those workers was placed at serious risk to develop an asbestos disease, as were those who live or work in the area where the asbestos abatement and remediation was taking place, and even those who may have washed work clothes contaminated with asbestos dusts.

Our firm has represented countless families whose loved one has developed asbestos disease caused by secondary exposure to the cancer-causing mineral, including the wives of men who worked with ACM on a daily basis. Despite the fact that their only asbestos exposure occurred when washing their husband’s dusty uniforms on laundry day, they still ultimately developed an asbestos disease caused by this secondary exposure.

The time between exposure to asbestos and when symptoms of an asbestos disease are first noticed is 30-40 or more years long (known as the latency period). This decades-long latency period means that while the college students who were hired to work on this project are not at any immediate risk of illness, the possibility that they may develop asbestos disease will be with them as they approach their 40s and 50s.

How Weitz & Luxenberg Can Help
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, we may be able to help you to seek justice for your illness and file a lawsuit on your behalf.

Please complete the form on this page for a free and confidential review of your potential asbestos lawsuit or request a free copy of our asbestos sourcebook. A Weitz & Luxenberg representative will contact you as soon as possible.