Hawaii Department of Health Cites Globeteck Group, Inc. for Asbestos Training Violations

The Hawai‘i State Department of Health (DOH) has issued a Notice of Violation and Order against Globeteck Group, Inc. for violations of the state’s asbestos training and certification regulations.

The violations were discovered during routine re-certification activities and subsequent inspection of records on January 24, 2012. The DOH has imposed a penalty of $10,000. Globeteck Group may request a hearing to contest the allegations or order.

Globeteck Group was cited for two counts of issuing course completion certificates to a student who did not successfully complete two concurrently run training courses, as well as failing to properly ensure and document that each person receiving a certificate achieved a passing score on the examination. DOH collected the affected training certificates, and the individual must retake the courses from an accredited training provider and pass the exams prior to conducting regulated asbestos activities.

Other violations included failure to verify current certification of all students who applied for refresher training courses.

To perform tasks related to asbestos, all individuals must be certified each year in their particular areas. Asbestos professionals are required to attend annual training classes to keep up to date with the knowledge they need to keep themselves, others and the environment safe from exposure. State regulations govern the certification and training of asbestos professionals and any asbestos-related activity (such as demolition, renovation or repair) for commercial, DOH Cites Professional Training Hawai‘i for public, institutional, schools, most multi-family housing, and industrial buildings in Hawai‘i. Even private single-family homeowners are recommended to hire certified asbestos professionals when they suspect asbestos may create a problem.

The DOH Indoor and Radiological Health Branch regulates asbestos abatement activities, including the accreditation of asbestos training providers which ensures properly trained and qualified asbestos abatement workers, supervisors, inspectors, project designers, project monitors and management planners.

For more information on asbestos regulations go to: hawaii.gov/health/environmental/noise/pdf/asbestos.pdf