MOUNT VERNON — The state Department of Labor and Industries has fined a Burlington countertop business about $330,000 for knowingly exposing workers to crystalline silica dust.
State inspectors cited A+ Marble & Granite LLC in April 2022 for serious violations, then in July fined the company after determining it had done little to fix the violations.
The violations included a lack of a written exposure plan and exposure assessments, and that the company did not require the use of respirators or give hazard training to workers, according to the Labor and Industries report.
Labor and Industries found silica dust exposure at the company to be four times the federal limit.
When a material such as marble is crushed or cut, crystalline silica can travel into the lungs.
Crystalline silica, a mineral found in quartz, marble and granite, causes health issues such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and kidney disease.
According to a Labor and Industries news release, after three unproductive site visits this past spring, a Skagit County Superior Court judge issued a court order to allow inspectors to sample silica levels at the business.
“It shouldn’t take a judge and a court order to get a business to follow the rules,” Craig Blackwood, assistant director for Labor and Industries Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said in the release. “We’ll do whatever is needed to ensure workers are protected.”
In the release, Labor and Industries said it found 10 instances of failure to fix existing issues, and about 12 serious and repeat violations.
The company also did not notify all employees that their exposure to crystalline silica was above federal limits.
The company is now required to post the department’s citations at the site where the violations occurred, in an area where employees can easily find and read them.
The company is appealing the fine.
