It is only legal advice when given by an attorney.

Or put another way, everyone has the right to express their opinion, even on
a point of law.  Doing so does not necessarily constitute practicing law
without having passed the bar, especially when the opinions are in a
technical area with which the person expressing the opinion has background
and experience. 

I am not an attorney, but as an Industrial Hygienist of some years'
experience, I am qualified to comment on OSHA regulations, practices that
may be contrary to regulations, etc.

Peter Zavon, MS, CIH
(The above are my personal and professional opinions and do not necessarily
reflect the views of any group or organization with which I may be
associated.)

> -----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 11:24 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
> >
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> >
> > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
> > 
> 

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