Netversant Wireless Systems v. Dept. of Labor & Industries

138 P.3d 161
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 3, 2006
Docket55875-7-I, 55970-2-I
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 138 P.3d 161 (Netversant Wireless Systems v. Dept. of Labor & Industries) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Netversant Wireless Systems v. Dept. of Labor & Industries, 138 P.3d 161 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

138 P.3d 161 (2006)
133 Wash.App. 813

NETVERSANT WIRELESS SYSTEMS, Respondent/Cross-Appellant,
v.
WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR & INDUSTRIES, Appellant/Cross-Respondent.

Nos. 55875-7-I, 55970-2-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

July 3, 2006.

*162 Beth A. Bielefield, Att Gen Ofc/Labor & Ind Div, Olympia, Counsel for Appellants.

Aaron K. Owada, Northcraft Bigby & Owada PC, Seattle, Counsel for Respondents.

AGID, J.

¶ 1 The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L & I) cited Netversant Wireless Systems (Netversant) for two serious Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act of 1973 (WISHA) violations of worker-safety asbestos regulations for work performed at the Providence Campus of Swedish Hospital, Building 1910. Netversant worked there from January 21, 2002 through March 29, 2002 installing cable throughout the building. Both L & I and Netversant appeal the decision of the King County Superior Court, which generally affirmed L & I. Netversant argues the citation was improper because its scope was limited to its employees' activities in a specific location on March 27, a location that did not contain asbestos containing materials (ACM) or presumed asbestos containing materials (PACM). L & I appeals the superior court's decision to reverse the citation for activities on March 27, 2002. We hold that in light of the dangers posed by asbestos exposure and the liberal construction we give to WISHA regulations, L & I properly cited Netversant for its failure to inform its employees of the presence and location of ACM and PACM and to provide them with asbestos training. Because employees worked throughout Building 1910 over a two month period and ACM and PACM were located on several floors, L & I correctly did not limit the citation to the date and place of the L & I inspection. We affirm the superior court's decision upholding the citation as well as its ruling that two findings of fact were not supported by substantial evidence. We reverse the court's decision to reverse the citation for activities on March 27, 2002.

FACTS

¶ 2 Swedish Hospital hired Netversant to provide new communication cable throughout Building 1910 of its Providence Campus. It worked in the building from January 21, 2002 through March 29, 2002.[1] Before it began the job, Pete Barnstein, Netversant's project manager, met with Lee Allen Brei, Swedish Hospital's facilities director. He and Brei inspected Building 1910, identifying the locations of ACM. Brei gave him documents establishing that ACM were located on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. Netversant kept testing results for the building in a three ring binder in the gang box at the job site, and foreman James Clark knew about *163 the ACM and test results. Brei told Netversant before they started work that there were no ACM in the hall on the first floor where the employees would be working on March 27, 2002, but that they would encounter PACM 30 feet down the hallway.

March 27, 2002

¶ 3 On March 27, 2002, Netversant employees Julie Dana, James Clark and Jesse Kelly worked on the first floor of Building 1910 looking for a location for a communication cable above a false ceiling. James Clark testified that he worked for Netversant at Building 1910 from January 21 through March 29, 2002, as a field supervisor. He said that before he worked on Building 1910, Netversant did not tell him about possible PACM or provide him with asbestos training during the year before the March 27 work at Building 1910. Julie Dana also testified that no one told her about PACM at Building 1910, and she never received asbestos training from Netversant during her employment from May 10, 2000 through May 30, 2003.

¶ 4 Jesse Kelly testified he worked with Dana and Clark on cable installation on all floors of Building 1910. On March 27, 2002, he worked with Dana and Clark on the first floor to locate areas to lay communications cables. He said Netversant never told him about PACM, and his only asbestos awareness training was on April 30, 2002, after they completed the work on Building 1910. Both he and Dana testified they did not drill into the walls, ceilings, vinyl floors or do any kind of work where he would have come into contact with pipe insulation.

Inspection and Citation

¶ 5 From May 9, 2002 through May 24, 2002, L & I Safety and Health Inspector Michelle Czejka inspected the Netversant worksite at Building 1910 in response to complaints from Netversant employees who said they were working with and around asbestos materials on March 27, 2002.[2] On July 15, 2002, L & I cited Netversant for three serious WISHA violations:

Citation 1 Item 1:
....
Management did not ensure that employees were informed of the presence and location of presumed asbestos containing material (PACM) and asbestos containing material (ACM) at Providence Medical Center 1910 Building prior to the commencement of work[;][3]
Citation 1 Item 2:
....
Management did not ensure that in cases where asbestos worker certification did not apply, all employees were trained according to WAC 296-62-07722(5) of this subsection regardless of their exposure levels. Employees who worked in areas containing *164 asbestos containing materials and presumed asbestos containing materials in the Providence Medical Center 1910 Building were not provided with adequate training[;][4]
Citation 1 Item 3:
....
Management did not ensure that the company accident prevention program was tailored to the needs of the operations in that it did not include a section on potential asbestos exposure and asbestos awareness training.[5]

¶ 6 The citation imposed a total penalty of $2,500 for these three violations. Netversant appealed the citation. On July 24, 2002, L & I reassumed jurisdiction[6] and issued a Corrective Notice of Redetermination (CNR) that deleted Item 1-3 from the citation.

¶ 7 On September 6, Netversant filed an appeal from the CNR with the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals (Board). At the hearing, Inspector Czejka testified that during her inspection she saw damaged ceiling tiles with exposed insulated pipe above the area on the first floor of Building 1910 near the security office and gift shop.[7] She conducted tests on several of these ceiling panels, but did not find ACM. She also spoke to employees and found no documentary evidence that Netversant employees received training to work with and around asbestos materials.

¶ 8 On October 31, 2003, an Industrial Appeals Judge (IAJ) issued a Proposed Decision and Order (PD & O) affirming the CNR. The PD & O contained 12 findings of fact, including:

(4) The employer, Netversant Wireless, was contracted to provide new communication cable throughout the building to improve the systems of the building.
....
(6) Netversant employees worked on the first floor of Building 1910, where they worked in a hallway near the security office and gift shop. Netversant employees were looking for thoroughfares for cable to be installed. In doing so, Netversant employees had to pop open a "false" ceiling of popcorn tiles that was situated three feet below that of the actual ceiling.

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Bluebook (online)
138 P.3d 161, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/netversant-wireless-systems-v-dept-of-labor-industries-washctapp-2006.