Company hit with $5k fine for improper asbestos abatement

A numbered company doing pre-demolition asbestos abatement on a house in Coquitlam was cited for a host of safety violations including failing to protect workers, according to a WorkSafeBC report.

Upon arriving at the job site in April, the inspector noticed a bin in the driveway with dirty, punctured bags.

After asking about the worker’s respiratory protection, the inspector was told they only had a half mask. Another person removing waste bags didn’t have any respiratory protection, according to the report.

“As I had serious concern for the immediate safety of workers on this site, I issued a stop work order,” the report stated.

Inside the house, the inspector found several violations.

Instead of the required shower, the inspector reported seeing a shower with makeshift controls and a drain pan. The site’s dirty room had a depth of one foot. The inspector reported seeing a pile of used protective suits on the ground and about 30 sealed asbestos bags in the basement.

Appliances weren’t covered and the inside of the building was dry.

The inspector found a negative air unit, which is used to filter dangerous fibres. However, the unit had a sharp kink in the exhaust and the contractor was using old fibreglass insulation as a prefilter.

The employer didn’t sample for airborne asbestos fibre to ensure workers were adequately protected, according to the report.

The contractor had opted not to proceed with air monitoring on the day of the inspection due to cost, the report stated.

Ultimately, the employer didn’t prevent the spread of asbestos dust and debris and failed to “effectively isolate the non-asbestos” section of the house from the work area, the inspector concluded.

All the violations were found to have been fixed during an inspection one month later.

The company was fined $5,250.