A Chicago-area display manufacturer that had five of its own untrained and unprotected employees remove asbestos from pipes and boilers inside its factory has been fined $1.2 million for 27 willful and serious safety violations. On May 25, the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration said the fine is one of the largest against any employer so far this year.
Cited was Cicero, Ill.-based AMD Industries Inc., which produces merchandising and trade-show displays. The penalty followed an OSHA probe last December. AMD workers allegedly removed asbestos, which OSHA terms a “cancer-causing material,” from boilers, heating units and piping inside the firm’s 59-year-old facility without using protective clothing, respirators or containment. AMD has not returned ENR’s calls.