Supervisors ignored safety concerns raised by inmates at McNeil Island state prison and made them remove potentially deadly asbestos-laden tile with no protective equipment and without taking common precautions, state records say.
As a result, at least 18 people – eight offenders, eight Department of Corrections employees and a flooring contractor’s crew – were exposed to cancer-causing particles, according to a state Department of Labor and Industries case file.
In July, L&I levied a $28,400 fine and cited the prison for two “willful” and seven “serious” violations related to three projects done in late 2007.
Prison officials told L&I they thought they were doing the removal correctly and that they didn’t think the Puget Sound Clean Air Act’s asbestos regulations applied to the work, records say.
The Department of Corrections does not dispute the underlying facts of the case, said David Block, safety manager in the department’s office of risk management. But the safety shortcomings were “an irregular event and inconsistent with current DOC procedures and past practice,” Block said.
The state’s director of prisons has ordered a review, he added.
The department has appealed the L&I ruling but only to ask the agency to reduce the severity of the most serious violations, he said. Corrections also has asked L&I to allow it to divert some of the fine money to a training budget for DOC maintenance workers and supervisors “to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” Block said.
In November and December, vinyl tile held in place by toxic cement was removed from administrative areas at the prison without the required precautions, such using a vacuum with an air filter or water to keep the asbestos-laden dust from becoming airborne, the L&I report says.
Two supervisors involved with the tile removal had been certified by the state in asbestos removal, the report noted. Gar Rodside, the construction maintenance supervisor, became a certified asbestos supervisor in 2000 and had taken seven refresher courses, though his certification had lapsed at the time of the work. The other supervisor, Tom Hili, was certified in 2004 and had taken three refresher courses.
“All asbestos certification classes, for workers and supervisors, emphasize the use of water as a universal control of asbestos fibers,” the report says. “A certified asbestos supervisor should know the proper method of removing class 2 asbestos material.”
Both Rodside and Hili declined to comment for this story. They remain employed at the Department of Corrections and have not been disciplined as a result of L&I findings, DOC spokesman Chad Lewis said.
According to the L&I report, Rodside told offenders who raised concerns about their safety that there was asbestos in the tile and cement, but assured them it wasn’t dangerous.
When the offenders asked about using water to minimize the dust, Rodside said it wasn’t needed.
Records show there were conflicting accounts about how much dust the projects unleashed.
“The offenders state there was a large amount of dust during the removal,” inspectors noted. The superintendent’s administrative assistant also said there was a “large amount of dust when the floor tile was removed outside her office.”
Meanwhile, the facility’s plant manager and Rodside, the construction maintenance supervisor, said “there was little dust during the removal of the tile.”
Despite the risk from exposure, which has been linked to lung cancer and other illnesses, L&I said the danger in this case was relatively low due to the low percentage of asbestos in the tile and glue, and the fact the exposure was limited to a couple of hours on three occasions.
News Tribune staff writer Adam Lynn contributed to this report.
WHAT WAS DONE WRONG
Here’s a look at the details of the two “willful” and seven “serious” violations the state Department of Labor and Industries found related to the removal of tile containing asbestos at McNeil Island prison in 2007. Some violations included more than one problem.
WILLFUL:
* Not using wetting agents to control potentially deadly dust.
* Sweeping up tile and sealant while dry.
* Not using a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
SERIOUS:
* No direct oversight by certified supervisor.
* Offenders were not certified to remove asbestos.
* Failure to provide written notice of the presence of asbestos to those working nearby.
* Failure to use respirators.
* No exposure assessment done before removal.
* Tile mechanically removed outside of a “negative pressure” environment.
* Tile was not removed intact.
* “Critical barriers” were not used to prevent spread of dust.
Source: Department of Labor and Industries
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