OHSA Workplace Mould Guidelines

Failure to remove a mould problem from a work place or place of employment that is known to an employer's management and/or owner is a work place safety violation for which the employer can be heavily fined by the U.S. Occupational & Health Administration OSHA.


Employer Liability Questions & Answers

[July 12, 2003]          

Q. My father is currently working at a place where he is constantly breathing mould spores. It was just last week he was diagnosed with having asthma by a medical doctor. The place of employment will not fix the problem due to obvious money problems. What should we do medically and lawfully?

A. In view of your father's working in a mouldy work place and his asthma health problems, the obvious first step should be to seek employment elsewhere in a mould safe work environment. I realize that good jobs are hard to find today, but maintaining good health is also important. If your father's place of employment was on fire, he would not hesitate to run out of the building to save himself. If the employer's building is on fire from mould infestation, your father should be just as motivated to get out NOW. Mould in the work place that is ignored by an employer aware of the mould problem is a safety violation under the OSHA law [U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and its corresponding sister state OSHA agencies].  If your father is interested in pursuing his legal rights, he needs to have the work place inspected and mould tested at his expense to obtain mould laboratory results that document the mould problem at work. He can use our do it yourself mould test kits with our expert mould laboratory analysis [Mould Mart].  Your father then take his medical records and the mould test results to a local environmental attorney to discover what legal rights he may have against his employer [Mould Lawyer]. As far as medical treatment options, he should be examined by a neurologist for possible brain damage, by an allergist for possible sinus mould growth, and by a pulmonary physician [lung doctor] for lung mould growths. Possible medical diagnostic tools include mri scans [brain and sinus's], nasal and sinus samplings, lung x-ray, lung biopsy, and mould antibody blood testing.   

[May 22, 2003]          

Q. I work in  long term health care facility ,that has a basement. When it rains the basement is flooded with at least 2-10 inches of water. This basement was once the facility laundry area, and at times when it floods there is human waste that also surfaces . The staff, including myself, and a lot of the patients that reside there are sick, with continual upper respiratory infections, chronic coughs, sinus infections, MRSA, and we have had so many nurses, like myself out sick with upper respiratory infections. One nurse diagnosed with Lupus, several with asthma, acute and chronic bronchitis, etc. One nurse has been diagnosed with a lung disease in which she has some type of lung tissue nodules growing in her lungs, and has now resigned. One nurse worked at this facility for about a month, and had to quit due to constant lung infections. I have been sick now for going on 2 years, with chronic bronchitis, been recently diagnosed with emphysema, asthma, and stay sick with sinus infections. You can smell the mould in this building. There was so much mould growing inside a small housekeeping closet, it had spread up the walls, on the ceiling, and the odor   was and still is overwhelming. They just painted over the walls. The basement floods every time it rains, and we have noticed an increase in upper respiratory infections following a rain, or when the basement is flooded. The plumbing runs in the ceiling, and the roof leaks, the insulation gets soaked, and leaks thru the ceiling. There are several areas that leak, the ceiling has cracked, and most of the plumbing pipes also run along the ceiling, which burst, and leak into the halls, down the walls. I have observed this, and usually call our maintenance man in to stop the leaks. The residual is my concern...we are all getting sick. My patients are sick. Diagnosed with pneumonia, they have rashes, nose bleeds, and chronic coughs...Please advise on what I can do as one person to drawl some attention to this concern. We all have complained to deaf ears of upper management, to no avail...I honestly feel we are in a toxic environment, and have no resources to have it checked out, as well as maintain our much needed jobs. Please advise, or maybe you could give me some other options to have SOMEONE follow up.            

A. Your email doesn't mention what attempts you have made to get the facility administrator or owner to test for mould infestation in both the basement and throughout the facility, including heating/air conditioning ducts. If your administrator or owner won't do so, you ought to consider testing the basement and other areas yourself using our do it yourself mould test kits with our expert mould lab analysis and mould identification. Visit: Mould Mart Thus, you need to be the SOMEONE who follows up on the problem. You have the power to take action. When you get the mould lab results back, if the reports document a serious mould infestation problem, give a copy to the administrator or owner and ask him or her to take action. If they won't, consider hiring an environmental attorney to represent your legal rights against your employer. Also consider complaining to your local health department and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA]. To find an environmental attorney, visit: Mould Mart.   Please note that it illegal for an employer to fire an employee who reports safety and health violations to the health department or OSHA. If you are ever fired for being concerned about your environmental health in the workplace and taking action to test and to report environmental problems, you could win a large financial judgment against because of such wrongful job termination.          

[March 28, 2003]          

Q. I have a question for you.  I recently made the company that I work for aware that they have a mould issue and should have it inspected.  There are about 20  other employees that have reported also. We  are suffering with asthma, sinusitis, allergies, upper respiratory symptoms etc.  I ended up at my doctor's office and described the visible mould and was told that it is definitely a health concern. The HR person called the local health department and had him to do a walk through and he reported that there were no problems.  When I asked what the air quality test confirmed I was told they did not do any as they obviously did not see reason to....even though it is growing on the walls.  Can you get an accurate measure without doing air quality test? I am being singled out as a whistle blower and feel that I am getting the run around.  Especially since I know for a fact they had another contractor to come in and inspect over a year ago and he said it was bad...very bad and the entire wall may have to come down. Any suggestions?  

A. When employees are sick, and when there is visible mould growth, a walk through type of mould inspection is not enough investigation to uncover the extent and types of mould infestation. You [with or without your co-workers] should do your own air mould testing [plus testing the visible mould growth] to document the mould levels and types of moulds that you are having to work in. For our do-it-yourself mould test kits, please visit: Mould Mart With mould lab results in hand, you are in a position to complain more effectively to your local health department, your boss, and to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. If you have documented a mould problem by testing and no governmental agency will help you and your boss continues to ignore the problem, hire a mould or environmental attorney to represent your interest in this serious problem. Visit the Martindale Hubbell Directory of Attorneys in the reference department of a large public library or visit: Mould Attorney.      

[Jan. 20, 2003]        

Q. My wife passed away in 1997 from lung cancer. She was 41 years old. It has just been brought to my attention that the building in which she worked has a high level of mould in it's a/c ventilation system. According to sources that work there, no one can remember when or if the ventilation system has ever been cleaned. The building was built around 1960. A number of women now employed here have had numerous health problems including one who is going to have surgery in the next 2 weeks for a brain tumor. Besides my wife, there have been other employees who have died from cancer. Now, just to let you know, my wife did smoke cigarettes for years but when we first learned of her cancer, the doctors told us that you couldn't tell by looking inside of her lungs that she had ever had a cigarette before. My question is this, could the mould condition in the a/c system have contributed to her death? If so, what would be the first step for me to take?        

A. My condolences to you for the death of your wife, and at such an early age. Your first step would be to have the entire suspect building including its heating, ventilating and air conditioning [hvac] equipment and ducts mould inspected and mould tested by a Certified Mould Inspector paid for by you so that you get the full truth directly about the true extent of the  problem. What actions you and your attorney take thereafter will be dependent on you having obtained such physical evidence in the mould inspection and testing that there is a serious problem. The mould Aspergillus can cause cancer. The mould Stachybotrys can destroy brain tissue.  If the company will not allow you to have the building mould inspected and tested, consider filing a complaint against the company with the U.S. Occupational & Health Administration [OSHA]. Failure to remove mould infestation known to exist by company management or ownerships is a violation of the OSHA laws and would subject your wife's former employer to possible large fines and other regulatory sanctions.  You can also brief the present employees as to the possible problem, and ask that one or more of them file an OSHA complaint against the company. Failure [just by itself] to permit mould inspection and testing can subject the company to OSHA fines and sanctions. Also remember that the existence of mould today in your wife's former place of employment does not mean that such mould problems existed when your wife worked inside the building. Mould cannot be dated in age. Mould can begin growing into colonies after just one day of wetness in the building materials or furniture or carpeting/padding. One week's worth of mould growth could be huge in the area affected.                

[Jan. 8, 2003]       

Q.  This company that I've been working for the past several years has had developed a mould problem. A few of  my co-workers have been feeling dizzy, weak, flu symptoms. We went to management and they had a mould inspectors come out " He stated that we  did have mould" but it wasn't enough to hurt us. nothing has been done or said since then, but we are all worried because we are still sick. when we leave the building we feel better. what is your suggestion to fulfill this matter please help us.        

A. Failure to remove a mould problem that is known to an employer's management and/or owner is a work place safety violation for which the employer can be heavily fined by the U.S. Occupational & Health Administration. [OSHA]. You should consider filing a complaint with your closest OSHA office. If your employer fires you for reporting a work place safety violation to OSHA, that would be a separate OSHA violation, and would entitle you to a potential large sum if you were to sue your employer for wrongful firing and for making you work in a mould-infested work place.           

[Jan. 14, 2003]         

Q. We had a mould investigation done on our place of employment Dec 11, 2001 to date nothing has been done to clean up the mould. Mould has been found behind baseboards, drywall paper backing, wood furring, humidifier and carpet. The types of mould that were found are the following: Aspergillus, versicolor, stachybotrys chartarum, and penicillium. Could we please have your opinion on working in these work place conditions?         

A. Because Mold Inspector Laboratory International, Ltd. and its Certified Mould Inspectors have not mould inspected and tested your particular place of employment, we are not in a position to provide you with an "opinion on working in these work place conditions".  What we can provide you with is general information as follows. First, when mould growth is discovered to be widespread in one's place of employment, the property has one or more major water problems [such as roof leaks or plumbing leaks inside ceilings, walls and floors], and a great likelihood of serious mould growth inside walls, ceilings, floors, and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning [hvac] equipment and ducts. Second, if employees are regularly exposed to elevated levels toxic mould spores such as Aspergillus, stachybotrys, and penicillium, they will breathe in such toxic mould spores, and then they can suffer serious health problems and diseases. If a workplace has a serious mould problem, the first thing that the employer should do is to move ALL employees [and the office furniture and equipment [after mould decontamination to avoid cross-contamination of where ever the items are moved] to mould-safe quarters. The second task is to have the building completely and thoroughly mould inspected and mould tested [including inside all ceilings, walls, floors, and hvac equipment and ducts]. The third objective is then to remediate and remove all mould infestation and have the place of employment tested as mould-safe before  moving people, furniture, and equipment  back to the mould-remediated building. Please note that it is a OSHA violation [U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration] for an employer to have employees working in an area known to be mould-contaminated.


To find a Certified Mould Inspector or Remediator in your area, or to be trained & certified as a mould inspection, testing, remediation, and prevention expert, please visit: Mould Professional.

To Read Occupational Health & Safety Administration Workplace Mould Guidelines, visit:
OHSA Workplace Mould

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Other Web pages on Legal Liability: 
[ Texas Mould Licensing Law ][Mould Legal Law Q & A][California Mould Disclosure Law][Insurance Claims For Mold Damage][Texas Victory][Landlord Legal Liability for Mould Infestation][Employer Liability Questions & Answers]
[Realtor Disclosure][School Mould Problems ][ How Real Estate  Sellers Can Protect Themselves Against Buyer Mould Claims ]

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