Tag Archives: OSHA
Schools Face Asbestos Issues During Summer Vacation
The summer months may mean the start of vacation for students and teachers, but it also means the start of a long, hot season of work for construction and remodeling crews. In some cases, these remodeling projects will also involve removing and disposing of insulation, ceiling tiles and other construction materials that contain asbestos. The [...]
University of Maine Field House Renovation Moves Forward
Thanks to the Maine Legislature’s approval of a $7-million, 10-year revenue bond, the University of Maine, or UMaine, is that much closer to a renovation project that has been on the table for almost a decade. The project isn’t merely cosmetic, however. Both UMaine’s field house and its gymnasium are almost a century old, dating [...]
Businessman Gets Four Years
In Amarillo, Texas, Jack R. Coiner, the owner of Asbestos Maintenance Services Inc., has been charged with negligently releasing asbestos into the air. The sentence – four years of probation under federal auspices, a fine of $31,250 and 160 hours of community service – seem like a lightweight penalty for endangering the lives and health [...]
Texas State Technical College Trains for Asbestos
At Texas State Technical College (TSTC) in Harlingen, a handful of employees have been ordered to undergo special training in asbestos and lead removal, or remediation. These procedures, outlined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under its National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, or NESHAP, regulations, as well as Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response [...]
University of Connecticut Workers Get Emergency Asbestos Screening
As a result of University of Connecticut (UConn) officials failing to inform them of the dangers, six university employees involved in removing the carpeting and plywood from UConn President Michael Hogan’s office in Gulley Hall during September of 2009, preparatory to replacing the flooring, were exposed to asbestos fibers. Two of the six, William and [...]
Danvers, Massachusetts Construction Firm Fined for Improper Asbestos Removal
General contractor William A. Berry & Son was hired to remove asbestos from Boston-based Beth Israel Hospital in September of 2009. OSHA, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has very specific regulations surrounding asbestos removal from public buildings. For OSHA, the rules are outlined via a four-step classification process, with Class I [...]
NIOSH Releases New Asbestos Bulletin
Last month, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) sent out a draft of their Current Intelligence Bulletin titled, “Asbestos Fibers and Other Elongate Mineral Particles: State of the Science and Roadmap for Research Version 4″. While officials do not consider the document ready for full release and does constitute any shift in [...]
Tulsa Schools Bond Issue Aimed at Asbestos, Aging High School
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, aging East Central High School faces some of the same problems facing all older schools nationwide; that is, aging infrastructure, a lack of funding during one of the most widespread recessions since the 1930s, and an asbestos legacy from the last century which affects all schools built before the mid-1970s. East Central [...]
Pocatello, Idaho, Day Care Closed for Asbestos
In Pocatello, Idaho, near the southeast corner of the state, a facility providing child day care services for about 140 youngsters in the basement of United Methodist Church closed temporarily over the weekend to allow air quality tests for asbestos to be conducted after a fire nearly demolished the church chapel. Tender Loving Care Child [...]
Springfield, MO Developer Gets Brownfield Tax for Asbestos Remediation
Late in August, a Springfield developer, Craig Wagoner of Water Street Development LLC, got more than $127,000 in Brownfield Redevelopment Program credits through the state of Missouri’s Department of Economic Development. The Brownfield Redevelopment Program is administered through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its regional program. Springfield, which falls in Region 7, received [...]
