British Columbia employer fined $710,488.79 for asbestos violations

Date posted

On Friday, September 16th, CBC Vancouver reported that WorkSafeBC has issued a fine of $710,488.79 for asbestos violations at a work site in Kimberly, BC. The fine, which is the highest administrative penalty that WorkSafeBC has ever handed out, was levied against GFL Environmental because it failed to provide workers with personal protective equipment while they were conducting asbestos abatement work on a commercial building that had been damaged by fire and was believed to be cross contaminated with asbestos-containing materials. During a post-demolition inspection, WorkSafeBC inspectors witnessed "one of the firm's workers inside the containment area, loading debris into disposal bins with an excavator. The worker was not wearing personal protective equipment ... and exited the excavator, still within the containment area, without PPE." In a written statement, WorkSafeBC said "the firm failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety". All of the violations were high risk violations.

To read the CBC article: WorkSafeBC fines waste management company $710K for asbestos violations