It sounds as if your school went with the low-bid contractor and, at
be
st, they have no knowledge of your state's regulations. This doesn't
se
em logical given what any employer should know and be doing in today'
s
world.

Running a Google search just for OSHA + liability b
rings up over a
million links including these two:

http://ww
w.isriconvention.org/2006/presentations/Safety%20Track/Protecti
ng%20Yo
ur%20Rights%20and%20Avoiding%20Liability/LiesProtectingYourRights
.PP
T

http://www.gentrylocke.com/showarticle.aspx?Show=792

You should contact the school's legal counsel along with your state
aut
horities.

http://www.epa.state.il.us/

http://www.state
.il.us/agency/idol/

http://www.icjia.state.il.us/public/



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. 
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Phone: (315) 460-2114
Fax: (315
) 460-8578

Email: peter.lazarski**At_Symbol_Here**us.ngrid.com

-----Ori
ginal Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.u
vm.edu] On Behalf Of
Schmidt-Nebril, Kathleen
Sent: Monday, March 
09, 2009 11:18 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] 
Mercury cleanup by a contracted vendor

Currently I am the Dominic
an 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 s
cene to pick up another item this
contractor had their crew of 5-7 non 
English speaking workers tearing
out cabinets, counters etc in the cont
aminated 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 rea
ding was off the chart with
the unit min allowed Hg conc being 1000( no
t sure of the unit) we read
at 45000!  I made quite a fuss to the vendo
r about their worker's safety
and insisted the room be ventilated and w
ork stop until levels were
within allowable range. At the same time oth
er contracted vendors were
showing up to do work in the room and I reco
mmended they wait for safe
levels. These were not vendors I had contrac
ted but I definitely could
tell they had a total disregard for their ow
n 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 some
one out there can help me
establish a strong case for safety to my empl
oyer with any website
references or info you may have in these situatio
ns.

Thank You
Kathleen Schmidt-Nebril


-----
Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List on behalf of Chrism
arlowe
Sent: Sat 3/7/2009 7:58 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Su
bject: 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 lo
ng as:

- The department will really use that much chemical long b
efore it goes
bad
and 

- The department has the physica
l and procedural ability to manage the
material and its hazards."
 

Stay healthy,
 
Chris Marlowe
42 Highlander D
r
Scotch Plains, NJ  07076
908 / 754 - 5160 (home)
732 / 539 
- 8128 (cell)
Krismarlowe**At_Symbol_Here**Verizon.net 


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