Jun 12, 2011 - $1.2 Million Asbestos Fine for Illinois Company
The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a massive $1.2 million fine against a Cicero, Illinois company after they violated the Clean Air Act and a host of other regulations designed to keep workers and the general public safe from the hazards of asbestos. The known carcinogen has been strictly regulated since 1985, when the EPA enacted rules defining safe practices for handling, removing, and transporting the known cancer causing agent.
AMD Industries was cited for allowing their employees to handle the dangerous material without proper training or proper safety gear, exposing them to potentially lethal amounts of the carcinogen.
Asbestos and asbestos containing materials are commonly found in older homes and public buildings constructed before the 1970s. The naturally occurring mineral was a ubiquitous additive to construction materials and other commercial products, adding heat resistances and strength to various products. In fact, the deadly mineral can be found in literally thousands of various types of materials ranging from light fixtures to insulation and even flooring and ceiling materials.
Asbestos, if inhaled or ingested can cause severe, debilitating, and deadly diseases including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis (scarring of the lungs). The EPA has taken the position that no amount of asbestos exposure is safe but OSHA regulations allow for up to one tenth of one asbestos fiber per liter of air in jobsites—an amount that’s often less than the ambient asbestos levels in some areas.
Federal regulations require that any worker handling asbestos or asbestos building materials be properly trained and outfitted with protective equipment including airtight suits and respirators. In some cases, these individuals must also be licensed in order to legally be allowed to remove asbestos. Most of the time companies are required to hire third party abatement experts to handle any contaminated materials during renovations or prior to demolition.
Strangely enough it was a 2002 safety audit ordered by AMD for its Cicero facility that uncovered the asbestos threat in the first place. However, the company took no action to hire experts to remove the material. Instead, they used regular employees to remove and transport the materials in 2010, placing them all at risk of contracting deadly asbestos related diseases.
It may be decades before any symptoms arise (mesothelioma has a 40 to 50 year latency period before tumors grow large enough to be noticed) and by then it may be too late. Following a mesothelioma diagnosis, most patients are given less than a year to live. Their only hope of extending that lifespan is radical and expensive surgeries and therapies. Even then, mesothelioma is 100% lethal.
The $1.2 million dollar fine may serve as a wakeup call to other companies who may be considering skirting the law and putting their own employees’ health at risk in order to save a few dollars but it won’t do anything to lessen the danger AMD’s employees have already faced.
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