Kathleen,

You definitely need to contact your institution's EH&S supervisor and OSHA.  There are significant OSHA violations occurring with the scenario and work needs to be halted in order for the safety issues to be resolved.  This scenario is potentially litigious should the workers wish to pursue claims against their employer and potentially the University.

Best regards


-----Original Message-----
>From: "Dr. Jay A. Young" 
>Sent: Mar 12, 2009 3:45 PM
>To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
>Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Mercury cleanup by a contracted vendor
>
>Kathleen,
>
>Get a lawyer as quick as you can.
>
>Jay Young
>
>PS: It may already be too late.  Get that attorney the day before yesterday.
>****************************************
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Schmidt-Nebril, Kathleen" 
>To: 
>Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 11:18 PM
>Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Mercury cleanup by a contracted vendor
>
>
>Currently I am the Dominican University CHO and am looking for comments, 
>advice and/or resources to address the a situation I found myself in today. 
>Our Physical Plant had hired an abatement contractor to clear our an old 
>science building lab that had a known asbestos and Hg problem.  When I 
>arrived on the scene to pick up another item this contractor had their crew 
>of 5-7 non English speaking workers tearing out cabinets, counters etc in 
>the contaminated room with absolutely no ventilation and only 2 workers 
>wearing respirators for Hg toxic vapors?  The room itself was sealed in 
>plastic and about 80F so I just knew the Hg vapor reading would be sky high. 
>They had the room sealed because they had to keep the asbetos dust in? The 
>company had an available Luminox instrument to detect air conc. of Hg and I 
>insisted they stop work and check the room.  Of course the reading was off 
>the chart with the unit min allowed Hg conc being 1000( not sure of the 
>unit) we read at 45000!  I made quite a fuss to the vendor about their 
>worker's safety and insisted the room be ventilated and work stop until 
>levels were within allowable range. At the same time other contracted 
>vendors were showing up to do work in the room and I recommended they wait 
>for safe levels. These were not vendors I had contracted but I definitely 
>could tell they had a total disregard for their own crews safety and safety 
>in general.  How liable are we for contracted vendors safety?  Can we be 
>held responsible for their workers becoming ill from exposure since they are 
>not our employees?  I was hoping someone out there can help me establish a 
>strong case for safety to my employer with any website references or info 
>you may have in these situations.
>
>Thank You
>Kathleen Schmidt-Nebril
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: DCHAS-L Discussion List on behalf of Chrismarlowe
>Sent: Sat 3/7/2009 7:58 AM
>To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
>Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Amorphous silicone dioxide silica
>
>Paul:
>
>WRT: "what do I say next time he wants to order in bulk!?"
>
>Tell him, "Yes. The institution supports purchase in bulk as long as:
>
>- The department will really use that much chemical long before it goes bad
>and
>
>- The department has the physical and procedural ability to manage the
>material and its hazards."
>
>Stay healthy,
>
>Chris Marlowe
>42 Highlander Dr
>Scotch Plains, NJ  07076
>908 / 754 - 5160 (home)
>732 / 539 - 8128 (cell)
>Krismarlowe**At_Symbol_Here**Verizon.net

Monte J. Edwards II, M.S.
Analytical Chemist, Industrial Hygienist
Analytical Associates Titan Laboratories
Post Office Box 21824
Columbus, Ohio 43221
T. 614.459.9244
C. 304.638.8779

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