Owners of an Everett home contacted the Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) after hiring the company last summer to remove a popcorn ceiling that contained the dangerous material asbestos. L&I’s inspection found Great North West Painting LLC performed the removal without any of the work practices, engineering controls, or protective equipment required.

Workers did not turn off the furnace or seal off furniture, carpets, or appliances while they were working. As a result, asbestos-containing dust coated the furniture, window sills, carpets, and appliances. The furnace filter was also coated in white ceiling dust.

Five days into the job, the homeowners fired the contractor for poor quality work, and the workers left the site, leaving behind dust and debris that contained asbestos. L&I inspectors photographed a trail of contaminated ceiling debris coming out the front door, across a walkway and the yard, ending in the driveway where it had been loaded into a vehicle.

Asbestos is extremely hazardous and causes potentially fatal diseases like asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer. Only a certified asbestos abatement contractor, with certified asbestos workers, who follows specific safety and health rules may remove and dispose of asbestos-containing materials.

Untrained workers hired through classified ad
Company owner Bogdan Karcha told L&I inspectors he’d hired the workers through a Craigslist ad. He could not provide their full names or any evidence they’d been trained or even notified that the work they were hired to do involved asbestos.

The workers, who were photographed by inspectors, weren’t wearing sufficient respirators for asbestos work so they were exposed to the hazardous material.

“This contractor clearly failed to follow rules designed to protect his customers and his workers from a deadly hazard,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director of L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “What’s worse, he knowingly put them at risk by failing to even tell them about the risks they were facing or train them on how to safely do this work. This was a failure across the board.”

Contractor cited for 28 safety violations
L&I has cited Great North West Painting for four willful serious, 19 serious, and five general violations. A willful violation is one where L&I determines there was an intentional disregard to a hazard or rule. A serious violation occurs when there is a substantial probability that worker death or serious physical harm could result from a hazardous condition. Karcha has appealed the citations and fine.

L&I has a list of contractors who are certified to do this high-risk work. The agency encourages homeowners to use that list to help them avoid hiring unscrupulous contractors.