Baton Rouge employers fined $112,000 for alleged asbestos violations
Three employers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana have been cited by OSHA for serious violations of federal health and safety regulations: Louisiana Health Care Consultants LLC, Dean Building Holdings and Bob Dean Enterprises Inc. OSHA regulations were not followed for asbestos-related construction projects, putting their workers at risk.
Willful violations included failing to provide necessary respiratory equipment, failing to inform workers that there was asbestos at the worksite and failing to provide a competent supervisor for the removal of a ceiling that contained asbestos. Serious violations included failing to provide personal protective equipment and ensure its use, failure to train employees in the proper removal of asbestos, failure to monitor for asbestos materials, failure to properly manage asbestos-containing waste and contaminated clothing, and failure to utilize engineering controls in order to determine and minimize asbestos exposure for employees.
Willful violations are defined as violations committed with intentional disregard or willful indifference to OSHA requirements. Serious violations are those that create a strong possibility of death, serious injury or serious illness caused by a hazard an employer knew about or should have known about. By exposing their workers to asbestos without taking the proper precautions, these companies put them at risk of developing serious asbestos-related illnesses later in life. Asbestos-related diseases include asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure.
These citations are related to construction work being performed at the State National Life Building in downtown Baton Rouge. The proposed penalties for these citations total $112,000. The employers were given 15 working days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference or contest the citations and penalties.
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