Federal law banned most new uses of asbestos years ago, but the mineral hasn’t disappeared from American workplaces. Employers continue to violate safety rules, and regulators continue to cite them for those violations across the country.
Recent enforcement actions show what asbestos exposure looks like in workplaces today. They also show how often employers fail to follow safety requirements that have been in place for decades.
These actions span different states and industries, from meatpacking plants to public schools. The violations include failures to monitor asbestos exposure, provide required protective measures and properly train workers.
Regulators Keep Finding Violations
OSHA and state safety agencies continue to inspect workplaces for asbestos violations. Inspectors regularly find employers who skip required surveys, ignore safe removal steps or fail to protect the people doing the work.
In Elkhart, Indiana, OSHA inspected JBS Prepared Foods after workers removed asbestos-containing floor tiles without proper training. The agency issued 5 serious violations and fined the company $12,000 for the safety failures. In this case, workers handled a known carcinogen without the protection or instruction the law requires.
OSHA proposed $392,002 in fines after investigators found Chicago-area subcontractor K.L.F. Enterprises knowingly disturbed and removed asbestos fireproofing during a hospital demolition in Waukegan, Illinois. Workers reportedly handled debris without protective equipment while piles of asbestos-containing material sat outside the building.
Boston-area contractors NorthStar Contracting Group and Suffolk Construction faced similar consequences after a mezzanine collapse at a former South Boston power plant. OSHA cited NorthStar with 3 willful violations, 4 serious violations and 1 other violation and it proposed $399,864 in penalties. Investigators said the company skipped the engineering survey and safety planning that could’ve prevented the incident altogether.
Violations Follow Familiar Patterns
OSHA’s asbestos standards require employers to identify asbestos-containing materials, plan demolition and removal work properly, provide protective equipment and train workers in safe handling. Recent enforcement cases show employers falling short on these requirements in several ways.
Common Violation Types
- Failing to conduct engineering surveys before demolition work
- Neglecting to identify asbestos-containing materials on a job site
- Not providing the required protective equipment
- Failing to train workers on safe asbestos handling
- Retaliating against workers who report exposure concerns
Retaliation can compound the harm when workers speak up about unsafe conditions. In February 2026, the Department of Labor ordered Texas companies to pay more than $200,000 in back wages and damages after they fired workers for raising asbestos concerns. The case shows that workers can face consequences for reporting hazards even though federal law protects that right.
These violations can expose workers to asbestos during demolition, removal and other work involving asbestos-containing materials. The enforcement cases show how failures at different points in a job can leave workers without the protections required by federal safety standards.
Older Buildings Often Still Contain Asbestos
Many of these violations also trace back to buildings built before asbestos regulations existed. Construction crews widely used asbestos in insulation, flooring, cement and ceiling tiles through the 1970s and a lot of that material is still in place today.
This happened at the School District of Philadelphia in the summer of 2026. A subcontractor disturbed asbestos in the basement of Kensington High School while working on a heating and cooling upgrade and the material spread through the building. The district had to relocate more than 400 students and 90 staff members to another building through January 2027.
About 80% of Philadelphia’s school buildings were built before 1980. The district already operates under a 5-year deferred prosecution agreement after federal prosecutors filed criminal charges in 2023 over its handling of asbestos in schools. That agreement requires regular inspections across roughly 300 buildings, but asbestos violations have continued to occur.
Renovation and demolition work pose some of the highest risk because it can damage asbestos-containing materials that have remained in place for decades. Cutting, drilling or removing old flooring, pipe insulation or ceiling tile can release toxic fibers into the air in seconds and those fibers can stay airborne long enough for anyone nearby to inhale them.
What Exposed Workers Can Do
Workers who suspect asbestos exposure on the job have options. They can file a confidential complaint with OSHA, request air monitoring results from their employer or ask a doctor about screening for asbestos-related disease.
People diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness, including mesothelioma, may also have legal options worth exploring. An attorney who handles asbestos cases can review someone’s work history, identify likely exposure sources and explain what compensation might be available.
