All - I popped this out earlier but I'm not sure if it went where it was intended...... Let me support Dr. Young's statement - Since Dominican University is located in River Forrest Illinois, how about contacting someone in the Illinois EPA ? Below is a contact listed on the their website, www.epa.state.il.us/. We all have experience and/or great ideas, but.......this might be the best place for Kathleen to start. On their site it states: "For information on mercury product laws and regulations in Illinois, please contact Becky Jayne at 217-524-9642." They also have asbestos information on their site with phone numbers and other contact info. (Illinois EPA Asbestos Unit). Don A. Long CHO / STS Southwest Research Institute Laboratory Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility PO Box 20130 White Hall, AR 71612 870-541-4930 -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU]On Behalf Of Dr. Jay A. Young Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 10:24 AM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Mercury cleanup by a contracted vendor To Carl and the others who are telling Kathleen what to do: I recommend that you kind people be a bit more cautious. Some of the advice that you are giving sure looks like legal advice to me. It is not a good idea for a person who is not an attorney to give legal advice to another person. Jay Young ************************ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl Zipfel"To: Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 6:08 PM Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Mercury cleanup by a contracted vendor >I do not believe that this statement is correct. This is totally dependent > on the amount of authority that you exercise over the contractor's > employees. If hire a contractor for a specific job spelled out in the > contract, and you do not give individual orders, or assign individual > work, > you have limited, if any, OSHA responsibility (caveat: state regulations > could differ). You are not hiring someone, you are contracting a service. > The big IF here is: If the contractor exposes your employees to hazards > then you do have an OSHA obligation to your employees. Here are some > things > to consider for now and in the future: > > 1 - Get, and keep, your people away from this job. > 2 - Shut the job down until the contractor agrees to operate in accordance > with regulations > 3 - Make a determination that the contractor is capable of doing the job > 4 - In the future these two requirements should be written into any > purchase > orders or contract. > 5 - Do not assume any direct responsibility in overseen the > moment-to-moment > work assignments for the job, or direct employee job assignments. Set > standards of performance, and then write them into the contract, then step > back and let the contractor do his job. Monitor the job to make sure that > the contractor is fulfilling his agreed to performances, but do not direct > his employees. > 6 - Contact your attorney to determine what legal course of action, if > any, > that you may want to take against the contractor. Do not contact OSHA > without your attorney's advice. You are under no obligations to contact > OSHA. > 7 - You are under an obligation to protect your people (see item #1). You > are under no legal obligation to protect another employer's people, unless > you assume those obligations (i.e. temporary employees hired from a temp > agency) > 8 - Always make sure that any contractors that you hire cover they > employees > with workers compensation insurance. > 9 - Always make sure that any contractors that you hire have performance > insurance, and environmental liability insurance (if required). > 10 - Have a written contractor's procedure that spells out you > requirements, > and requires disclosure from them. > 11 - I'm sure there are some other things, but these are the one that I > can > remember at this moment. > > Carl > > > -----Original Message----- > From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of > Nunn, Nate > Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 4:20 PM > To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU > Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Mercury cleanup by a contracted vendor > > Kathleen, > > Under the regulations any vendor working for you on this or other > projects is considered to be your employee. You are responsible for > making sure they are in compliance with all appropriate regulations. If > you knowingly allow work to continue in violation of safety or health > standards your employer, and in some cases you can be held liable in > civil and where appropriate criminal court. If you know they are > violating government regulations you are required to take appropriate > actions including if necessary shutting down their work. > > NATHAN J. NUNN > EHS Director > > TestAmerica > THE LEADER IN ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING > > Cell: 832.746.4976 > Toll Free: 877.785.7233 > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of > Dr. Jay A. Young > Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 2:45 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 > > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication, including any > attachments, may contain privileged or confidential information for > specific > individuals and is protected by law. If you are not the intended > recipient(s), you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution > or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited and you should > delete this message and its attachments from your computer without > retaining > any copies. If you have received this communication in error, please > reply > to the sender immediately. We appreciate your cooperation. > > > > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. >
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