WorkSafeBC began its case Monday to seek another B.C. Supreme Court contempt order against an asbestos-removal company, which works in Richmond. The province’s workplace safety agency argues that Seattle Environmental has continued to breach workplace safety rules.
WorkSafe also alleges that the company owner, Mike Singh, and his son Shawn Singh — who operates a separate business that surveys homes for the presence of asbestos — have breached a 2012 court order stipulating they not violate B.C.’s workplace laws and regulations.
Contempt charges can lead to fines or jail time or both.
Seattle Environmental and the Singhs deny the allegations and say in court filings they are being discriminated against by WorkSafeBC because they are Indo-Canadians. They have also launched their own court proceeding, asking to have the 2012 court order set aside.
Both cases are being heard during a five-day hearing before B.C. Supreme Court Justice George Macintosh in Vancouver.
On Monday, WorkSafeBC lawyer Nick Bower outlined the agency’s allegations that Seattle Environmental and Mike Singh had breached the regulations in specific instances.
In one instance, he said that at a duplex in Richmond in 2013, a WorkSafeBC officer found that Seattle Environmental did not mark the boundary of the asbestos hazard zone or post warning signs as required. “This is a very clear breach of a very clear provision,” said Bower.
He said Seattle Environmental also failed to protect work surfaces with plastic sheets or tarps to help control the spread of asbestos-containing material at the Richmond duplex and failed to remove or contain all asbestos material.
In the Lower Mainland, asbestos removal work commonly takes place at older homes slated for demolition or renovation which can contain materials with asbestos such as drywall compound, loose insulation and vinyl tiles.
The Singh’s lawyer, Sumandeep Singh, was expected to begin his response on Tuesday or Wednesday.
This is WorkSafeBC’s second contempt application against these parties.
In 2013, the court held the company, and Mike and Shawn Singh, in contempt of court by breaching the 2012 B.C. Supreme Court order not to break rules under the Workers’ Compensation Act and the Occupational, Health and Safety Regulations of B.C. However, the court also dismissed WCB’s 2013 allegations that the trio had exposed people to, or put them at risk of exposure to asbestos. The company and the Singhs were fined $15,000.
