Interior Health has been handed a fine totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars for the disruption of asbestos in a long-term care facility.
In a summary of the penalty, WorkSafeBC did not name the facility but said it was located in Kamloops.
The $783,068.26 was imposed on June 11.
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According to the summary, telecommunications installation at the facility required drilling into drywall, which was an identified asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), near areas that were used by staff.
WorkSafeBC found that the employer failed to ensure those who received reports of the unsafe or harmful conditions and took action right away.
The summary said this was a repeated violation.
It was also determined that the IH failed to ensure that before any work was done that may disturb the ACMs started, a qualified person conducted a risk assessment.
Interior Health also failed to develop and implement an exposure plan that met regulatory requirements to ensure the control and handling of the asbestos were acceptable to WorkSafeBC.
It was also found that precautions were not taken to protect workers before the work was done.
“There are all high-risk violations,” WorkSafeBC said.
