A Missouri nursing home’s owner and operator, as well as a contractor, are being fined after workers and residents were exposed to asbestos when the material was removed during a flooring replacement project without the proper safety procedures, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said last week.
“Asbestos is a known human carcinogen released into the air when asbestos-containing materials are removed. Exposure to its fibers can cause irreversible lung damage, which is often undetected for years,” OSHA Area Director Karena Lorek in Kansas City, MO, said in a press release. “Employers must test building materials before removal and ensure all measures are taken to prevent exposure.”
OSHA said it began inspecting Bentonview Park Health & Rehabilitation in Monett, MO, in January based on a referral from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Jan. 22, the state agency evacuated the facility’s residents – 31 days after flooring work began on Dec. 21. Bulk samples of tile backing and mastic collected at three locations in the facility indicated that between 45% and 51% of the samples contained chrysotile asbestos, according to the agency.
OSHA is holding SRZ Mgmt Holdings of Jefferson City, MO, the facility’s owner; SRZ OP Bentonview, which operates as Bentonview Park Health and Rehabilitation; and Eastern Coast Management of Woodmere, NY, the project’s lead contractor, responsible for multiple violations, including failing to test for the presence of asbestos, not erecting protective barriers to contain residue and failing to use the respiratory and personal protective equipment required to prevent exposure.
Eastern Coast Management faces proposed penalties of $105,127 for 11 serious violations, OSHA said. SRZ Op Holdings hired Eastern Coast Management to remove and replace the flooring.
SRZ Mgmt Holdings faces proposed penalties of $95,570 for 10 serious violations. Investigators, OSHA said, determined that the company’s regional director of operations removed flooring and used removal equipment and scrapers to keep the project moving in the lead contractor’s absence. The company assigns managers to the Bentonville facility.
SRZ OP Bentonview faces $38,228 in proposed penalties for four serious violations. As the facility’s manager, the agency said, the company had responsibility for protecting its employees and other workers in the rehabilitation facility from potential respiratory hazards.
“Bentonview Park Health & Rehabilitation continues to work with a certified and licensed asbestos abatement contractor to remediate our facility of asbestos and share information with appropriate state and federal health and environmental agencies that are monitoring this situation. The remediation process will be completed as soon as possible,” Bentonview Park Health and Rehabilitation said in a statement to the McKnight’s Business Daily.
Residents, the company added, were transferred on Jan. 22 to five other facilities in its network or stayed with family members.
“This extraordinary move was done to protect the health and safety of our residents and staff. Many of our nurses and other caregivers accompanied our residents during this move, and all residents continue to receive their healthcare needs uninterrupted,” the statement continued. “We regret that this situation has occurred and hope to welcome our residents and staff back as soon as our facility can safely reopen.”
