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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