BR companies may face OSHA fines

• By BILL LODGE
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jun 24, 2009 - Page: 6B

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Federal safety regulators want $112,000 in fines from three Baton Rouge companies for their alleged failure to protect workers properly from possible asbestos contamination during renovations at the State National Life Building.

All three of the targeted Baton Rouge companies are based in the State National building at the office of Bob Dean, 343 Third St., according to records of the commercial division of the Louisiana Secretary of State.

A woman who answered the phone Tuesday at Dean’s office said Dean would not return to the office before today and could not be reached elsewhere for comment. If he received his messages Tuesday, he did not respond to a request for comment.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it has proposed collection of the $112,000 in fines from Louisiana Health Care Consultants LLC, Dean Building Holdings and Bob Dean Enterprises Inc. Those proposed fines are for 13 alleged violations of health and safety regulations.

“These companies failed to follow OSHA’s standards for asbestos-related projects in the construction industry,” Dean McDaniel, OSHA’s regional administrator in Dallas, said in a written statement.

“Employers must be committed to keeping the workplace safe and healthful to prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities,” McDaniel added.

The National Cancer Institute says at its Web site that, “Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma.” Mesothelioma is an extremely rare cancer that strikes approximately 2,000 people in the United States each year, NCI officials report.

Each of the three firms has 15 days to respond to OSHA’s proposal, according to McDaniel’s written statement.

OSHA alleges the firms failed to alert workers that a ceiling containing asbestos was being removed. The firms also allegedly failed to ensure employees’ use of personal protective equipment and did not use engineering controls to minimize exposure to the cancer-causing mineral.

“People who work with asbestos wear personal protective equipment to lower their risk of exposure,” according to the National Cancer Institute.

The NCI also says on its Web site that symptoms of mesothelioma may not become apparent for more than three decades after a person’s exposure to asbestos.

“A history of asbestos exposure at work is reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of all cases,” according to the institute.

An approximate combined total of 20 workers are employed by Louisiana Health Care Consultants and Bob Dean Enterprises in Baton Rouge, according to OSHA.