asu in the news 02-06-08 to - ASU News - Arizona State University

Workers cite ASU building safety hazards
Asbestos peril lack
of fall protection
among claims
By RYAN OABRIELSON
TRIBUNE
ASU workers last year ac
cused the university of more
than 20 workplace hazards that
violated safety regulations
But the state agency re
sponsible for investigating
such allegations usually direct
ed Arizona State University to
inspect itself
And ASU officials rarely
found problems on their cam
pus a Tribune review of com
plaints shows
The one time that the Arizo
na Department of Occupation
al Safety and Health conducted
an unannounced inspection it
found a university building su
pervisor had sent his employ
ees to tear down a roof loaded
with asbestos
The agency initially cited
ASU for a serious violation
But college officials negotiated
that down to non serious as
part of a settlement deal last
month
Before the asbestos case
the agency had declined to in
vestigate allegations that ASU
put employees at risk of ex
posure to mold and electrical
currents and that it had leveled
scaffolding using phone books
and didn t provide equipment
to protect against falls
The university s health and
safety office denied most of the
22 individual allegations made
throughout 2007 complaint
records and internal e mail re
cords show However ASU offi
cials told the state agency they
couldnt confirm or deny some
ofthe most serious alleged haz
ards
Leon Igras the university s
health and safety director
East Valley Tribune
Circulation: 70025
DMA: Phoenix, AZ
declined to comment for this
story Robert Backus head of
ASU s carpentry shop also de
clined to comment specifically
on the asbestos case in which
he was involved
In October state inspectors
found Backus had told his em
ployees the Lyceum Theater s
porch roof he d assigned them
to remove had tested negative
for asbestos In fact he never
had it tested
In the process oftearing off
the roof a big cloud of dust was
created that caused coughing
and watering of the eyes the
employee complaint said
The employees stopped
work after just three hours
worried that the 69 year old
theater did contain the car
cinogen Asbestos only pdses
a serious risk if it becomes air
borne
The roof had seven layers
of felt paper that tested positive for
asbestos the complaint said
After the state agency cited it for
a serious violation the university es
tablished a more rigorous building
permit system and added training
for construction supervisors to pre
vent future hazards Leah Hardesty
an ASU spokeswoman wrote in re
sponse to the Tribune s questions
When complaints are serious in
nature or could possibly result in se
rious harm or even someone s death
then we re going to put a lot more
weight on those said Darin Perkins
Arizona s occupational safety and
health director
If state regulators didn t inspect
certain alleged hazards at the univer
sity Perkins said it is likely because
the complaint didn t meet all the state
agency s criteria Those criteria are
that the complaint detail a situation
that could cause serious injury that
© Copyright 01/20/2008 East Valley Tribune Cision USA, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Unlicensed Reproduction, Sale or Republication Prohibited.
City: Mesa
State: AZ
it be filed in writing and that at least
one current employee sign their name
on it
The state agency commonly di
rects employers to handle minor com
plaints that don t include a significant
health risk Perkins said The agency
is sometimes notified when an office s
carpet isn t flat for instance
Employers typically provide the
agency accurate information about
such nonserious allegations be
cause they risk criminal prosecution
if they don t said John Alan Doran
a Phoenix labor law attorney with
Greenberg Traurig
Why would anybody lie about
something that s of relatively little
consequence in the big scheme of
things Doran said
Records do not indicate if any of
the allegations against ASU besides
the asbestos were minor by state
standards Nor do they say what fac
tors caused regulators to decline to
investigate
In March a complaint said work
ers repairing the Tempe campus
Matthews Center a two story build
ing kept scaffolding level by placing
phone books and bricks underneath
the structure s legs That could de
stabilize the scaffolding and violates
state and federal regulations
An AsU safety official checked the
construction site the day after receiv
ing the complaint but the scaffolding
had already been disassembled
Perkins said construction work
ers often level scaffolds with pieces
of wood considered a nonserious
violation
However he added you re not
normally going to find a phone book
used to level a scaffold
Less than a month later the state
agency asked the university to inves
tigate another potential fall risk That
complaint accused ASU construction
supervisors of directing employees to
work at elevated heights without fall
protection measures
Account: 2565G0
Date: 01/20/2008
Pub Num: AZ­D71­SUN
Section/Page: a1
Page Count: 1 / 2
RefNo: 3323b5