The recent real estate price boom has a lot of alarming aspects, but the most alarming is not to do with prices, losing our heritage or increasing the footprint of homes.
The most dangerous aspect of our real estate bubble is the health hazards presented by the homes being demolished.
Most people don’t realize asbestos is in virtually every home built between 1920 and 1990 and must be safely removed prior to demolition of a structure. All too often a demolition permit is issued with the house crushed in a day, the wreckage removed from site in a steel garbage bin. No assessments are conducted, no asbestos abatement performed.
But exposures don’t stop at the property line.
This isn’t just a worker issue; it is a community issue. When a home is demolished in your neighbourhood without proper precautions being taken, your family could be exposed to potentially dangerous levels of asbestos. Just one asbestos exposure can cause irreparable harm to your lungs – it is not acceptable to allow these practices to continue. Governments have a key role to play in the regulation of the demolition and asbestos abatement industry.
Asbestos is the number one killer of workers in BC. Every year on April 28 we mourn workers who have lost their life. This year we mourn for another 54 workers who died of asbestosis or mesothelioma as a result of exposure. This brings the number to 242 in the last five years.
For the past several years WorkSafe B.C. has identified contractors within the asbestos abatement industry that don’t comply with health and safety regulations, regularly putting their employees at risk. These contractors prey on young workers who don’t understand the risks involved in their work. Often their symptoms don’t show up for many, many years.
The City of Vancouver has communicated with WorkSafe B.C. the location of all demolition permits for a few years now and other municipalities must follow their lead. In light of the recent legal cases that have identified employers with over 200 WorkSafe B.C. order violations, it is time to properly regulate the demolition and asbestos abatement industry with contractor licensing in safely handling asbestos and other hazardous material for all demolition and environmental remediation contractors.
Josh Towsley is the president of the Vancouver, New Westminster and District Building and Construction Trades Council, chair of the B.C. Building Trades Occupational Health and Safety Committee, business representative for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 and a resident of Port Coquitlam.
