Beware of Asbestos Workers with False Certification

When hiring an asbestos contractor to remove the toxic mineral from a home or business, one man says take caution, as many asbestos workers have false credentials and aren’t licensed to handle the material.

According to Don McCarty, the Northeast District manager for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, many people in Georgia who have the certificate that proves they have asbestos work credentials actually aren’t qualified to handle asbestos at all.

Asbestos was widely used during much of the twentieth century for its durability and fire-resistant properties. The toxic substance is dangerous because any amount of exposure can result in a range of serious diseases, including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. The latter is especially difficult to deal with because mesothelioma symptoms usually do not appear until the disease is in the advanced stages of development.

Due to the multiple threats of asbestos cancer, asbestos should only be handled by a licensed contractor who has the knowledge and equipment needed to safely handle the material. Proper asbestos-removal techniques include a process called wet-removal, in which asbestos materials are thoroughly drenched with water to prevent fibers from being released into the air.

Georgia, like most states, has strict regulations that control who can safely handle asbestos. Many states require people who remove asbestos to complete certain training before being qualified to perform the work. The certification program is supposed to provide training, but according to Don McCarty, many people have false certificates.

McCarty claims that when the federal Environmental Protection Agency checked a Florida site where 89 people were at work, the agency found that only a third of the workers had authentic asbestos credentials.

Incredibly, McCarty says that a third of the people the EPA checked had bogus certificates or Social Security numbers, and another third had attained certificates using false names.

McCarty said that false certificates are often made for workers who are in the country illegally. He believes some workers may even have multiple false credentials, enabling them to work in different states without proper asbestos training.

McCarty is urging those who will hire an asbestos contractor in future to make sure they have the right credentials.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 5:20 pm and is filed under Asbestos Abatement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.