A Wisconsin shipyard company is looking at up to $1.4 million in fines for providing a work environment in which its employees suffered exposure to asbestos and lead.

Fraser Shipyards, Inc., based in Superior, Wisconsin, faces accusations of 14 willful egregious health violations by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

OSHA determined, after sampling results, that 14 workers showed lead levels up to 20 times the safe exposure limit.

The agency said they were also exposed to other metals as well as suffering exposure to asbestos.

Additionally, OSHA noted five more willful citations and 10 serious violations by Fraser for failing to conduct monitoring to assess employee exposure to lead, failing to implement a lead compliance program or a respiratory protection program for lead and for failing to provide training on lead and asbestos hazard.

Because of these violations and willful citations for exposure to asbestos and lead, OSHA placed Fraser Shipyards on its Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

This program funnels OSHA resources for inspections for employers who participate in willful or repeated violations. It focuses on employers who show indifference for OSHA regulations or who fail to abate when necessary.

The accusations regarding Fraser center around the company failing to inform employees of the existence, location and quantity of asbestos in the work environment even though Fraser has a written asbestos compliance program.

Because of this, 14 employees of Fraser may have experienced unnecessary exposure to asbestos and other hazardous materials.

Shipyard Employees Suffer Exposure to Asbestos and Lead

These employees participated in demolition of a ship during which they cut into areas of the ship that contained asbestos and lead unaware of their exposure to asbestos.

OSHA decided that Fraser knew about the existence of hazardous material throughout the ship. The vessel, built in 1959, came to the shipyards in 2015 for a six month retrofit. Under contract, Fraser was to ready the ship for the summer shipping season.

OSHA released a statement noting, “Fraser Shipyards accepted a contract with a very low profit margin and penalties for delayed completion, but could not meet the schedule without endangering its workers.”

David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA said, “This employer was unwilling to pay the necessary costs to protect employees from lead exposure. When companies prioritize profits and deadlines over the health and safety of their workforce, it is the workers who pay the price. Law-breaking employers must be held accountable for their unlawful behavior.”

Fraser Shipyards did follow certain safety guidelines once exposure to asbestos and lead was discovered.  They halted work and asked the advice of medical experts and industrial safety experts if they would oversee the health testing of employees.

Fraser says they take the health of their employees seriously.  They claim they purchased cutting edge safety equipment including protective suits, state of the art breathing equipment, air scrubbers, decontamination and changing trailers as well as cleaning supplies.

In a statement about the employees’ exposure to asbestos and lead, the president and COO of Fraser said, “We acted to protect our people as soon as we learned of the problems. We have worked with all of our employees, laborers and contractors to ensure their health by bringing in medical experts as well as the highest levels of testing, protective equipment and safe operating procedures.”

He went on to comment that Fraser strongly disagrees with OSHA’s assumption that the exposure to asbestos issues were caused by motivation for profit.

Fraser has since elicited the help of the medical community, union officials, as well as OSHA to create and put into place new safety regulations.