Federal agency is ready to study possible health effects on workers removing toxic drywall, but it has to be asked

January 2, 2010 by root

A FEDERAL AGENCY IS READY and willing to immediately study a Chinese drywall subject that has mostly remained under the radar: the possible health effects on workers who are ripping out the tainted drywall from homes in Florida and other states.

When it comes to studying those workers on the job and determining if there are any health issues posed by their work with drywall -- as well as what safety measures should be in place at the job sites going forward -- the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is ready to go.

There is only one problem: no builders will agree to let it visit their job sites.

The agency, charged with studying and making recommendations to prevent work-related injuries or illnesses, is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It regularly conducts what are called Health Hazard Evaluations where workers could be exposed to harmful substances.

Those evaluations are especially vital when there is a new or previously unrecognized problem, such as, say, tainted drywall.

Chad Dowell, with NIOSH's Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, told the Herald-Tribune the agency is very interested in conducting one of its studies to determine whether Chinese drywall removal poses more risks to workers than when they are tearing out normal drywall.

The agency, however, has been "unable to find a partner," Dowell said.

The agency has reached out to builders and contractors, but so far has been rebuffed.

NIOSH does not have the power to simply show up and conduct a Health Hazard Evaluation. It has to be invited to do so. But being invited in by an employer is not necessary. Employees can request a Health Hazard Evaluation, too.

According to current regulations, if three employees at a workplace petition the agency to conduct a health evaluation, NIOSH is empowered to come in, regardless of whether the employer wants the agency involved. At the employees' request, their names can be kept confidential and will not be revealed to the employer.

In Florida, builders like Miami-based Lennar Corp. have been gutting selected homes and condos in the Sarasota-Bradenton area and elsewhere across the state for nearly a year, and several other builders have followed suit -- notably Taylor Morrison and GL Homes.

Workers observed in Lennar's Heritage Harbour neighborhood earlier this year were wearing only dust masks, and some not even that, as they cut into and broke apart pieces of Chinese drywall, releasing dust and particles from the board into the air. The drywall pieces then were carried out of the house and then loaded unto trucks.

Lennar officials said at the time they believed there were no health risks to workers.

Questions posed to the company for this story were not answered. A spokesman declined to comment on whether Lennar would accept NIOSH's offer to conduct a study.

Taylor Morrison and GL Homes also declined to answer questions from the Herald-Tribune about whether they would allow NIOSH access.

However, environmental consulting firm Environ International, which both Lennar and Taylor Morrison have hired to direct their Chinese drywall testing and remediation efforts, apparently has no objection.

"We don't have a problem with that. They are more then welcome, in my opinion, to come do it," said James L. Poole, an Environ industrial hygienist who has been overseeing most of Lennar's remediation efforts in the Sarasota-Bradenton area.

Environ itself, however, cannot authorize NIOSH to gain access, Dowell said. That permission still must come from the builder, contractor or employees.