PROVIDENCE — The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined a company more than $60,000 for failing to protect its workers from exposure to lead paint while recoating beams at a busy parking garage in downtown Providence last fall.
DR Colors LLC, a company with addresses in Rhode Island and Florida that professes to do lead renovation work, had been hired to recoat and refinish the multi-level parking garage at 233 Weybosset St., across from the Providence Performing Arts Center.
The company came under investigation last September, after representatives from the painters and trades unions stopped by the worksite and notified federal and state authorities about possible lead paint exposure.
There were plumes of dust rising from sandblasting, according to the union representatives, who also took videos. The workers for DR Colors LLC, a non-union company, weren’t wearing protective gear, and efforts to contain the worksite were so poor that dust spilled into the air inside and outside the busy garage.
The union representatives said that they applied lead-paint test sticks to the garage beams that were about to be sandblasted. The applicators immediately turned positive for lead paint.
OSHA investigated and cited DR Colors for seven violations, including failure to assess the workers’ exposure to lead paint, and failing to provide protective equipment, including respirators.
DR Colors did not contest OSHA’s findings, so the citation became a final order on Feb. 6. Each of the seven violations carries a penalty of $8,595, totaling $60,165 in fines.
This is the second time that OSHA has investigated DR Colors. A complaint was filed against the company in September 2022 alleging that it didn’t properly protect its workers from falls at a job site in Tiverton.
DR Colors owner, Glenn Stapans, did not respond to the Globe’s requests for comment Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training is continuing to investigate possible labor violations, and the Department of Environmental Management is investigating environmental violations.
Justin Kelley, business representative of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 11, said that he wanted to see accountability from the state for the workers and the public.
“I’m thoroughly disappointed our state agencies lack the ability to engage in a timely fashion around what is a clearly documented physical hazard to all people downtown,” Kelley said. “It was a clear and present danger allowed to go on.”
No blood lead level is considered safe in children, and even low levels of lead in blood can affect IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement. Very high lead exposure can cause death, according to the CDC.
In adults, lead can cause high blood pressure and issues with the brain, kidneys and reproductive health.
Workers must wear special protective equipment, so they don’t risk being poisoned by breathing in dust containing lead, or inadvertently wearing the dust off the job site on their clothes and contaminating their vehicles and homes.
The work on the garage halted with the investigations last fall.
Lisa Garabedian Regan, the president and CFO of Bliss Properties, which owns the garage, said Tuesday that her company plans to seek new bids this spring from companies to finish the rest of the work.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.