Man exposed workers to asbestos

A man who exposed his young, inexperienced workers to asbestos without providing them with the proper gear has dodged a prison sentence.

Arthur Moore was ordered to stop his asbestos abatement business in an August 2010 ruling by a B.C. Supreme Court judge.

But he continued to carry on work, sometimes using recovering drug and alcohol addicts from the Lion Wellness Recovery House in Surrey, where some clients are required to find a job as part of their recovery program.

WorkSafe B.C. made an application to have Moore found in contempt of court and sentenced to up to 120 days in jail for continuing to do asbestos work despite the injunction.

Justice Jeanne Watchuk dismissed WorkSafe B.C.'s application on a technicality in her B.C. Supreme Court ruling dated April 11 this year.

Watchuk found Moore would get his vulnerable, young workers to remove asbestos from jobs he had successfully bid on "without providing protective equipment to his employees."

Asbestos was a popular building material for its fire-retardant properties up to the 1970s. That changed when it was determined asbestos is a slow killer, claiming its victims 10 to 20 years after they were exposed to the substance.

It is the biggest cause of workrelated deaths in B.C. -53 of the 121 death claims in B.C. in 2009 were asbestos-related.

Although Watchuk found Moore "poses a significant public safety concern" and "targeted ... vulnerable workers," she dismissed the application to have him jailed.


Some of Moore's workers were as young as 14, the judge heard.

Moore had told his employees to run if any WorkSafe B.C. personnel appeared on site, one witness testified.

With no assets -not even a driver's licence -Moore, who has used a number of aliases, has escaped punishment for his misdeeds. He did not show up at the two-day hearing before Justice Watchuk.

Al Johnson of WorkSafe B.C. said people offering to do asbestos inspections and removal aren't required to be licensed. It's buyer beware, he said, noting homeowners should check references.

"Asbestos materials in place, for the most part, aren't dangerous. It's when they are disturbed and the fibres get into the air [where they can be inhaled]. "You can't see them, you can't smell them, you can't taste them," he said. "The fibres go deep into the lungs."

aivens@theprovince.com

twitter.com/andyivens

Source : http://www.theprovince.com/health/exposed+workers+asbestos/4674009/story.html