Mold....ugh!!

[kelleyrn2000]

Last month we discovered mold beneath the wallpaper in the exam room where I work. I work at a hospital. I stay in this darkened room 90% of my day. The man who filled the work order after we noticed the wallpaper bubbling up said he does this "repair" every year. After peeling back the wallpaper there was obvious mold. The guy said the wall was "spongy" and that his boss was aware but since there were no leaky pipes in the wall, there was nothing to be done. He apparently covered the plaster in that spot, and put the wallpaper back on The guy said "he gets called up here every year for the same problem." Our department has only been opened a year and a half.

We couldn't believe it. The guy just covered up the mold because his supervisor said that's what should be done.

I am allergic to mold and dust, and have ongoing sinus problems, not necessarily from this, as I have always had allergy and sinus probs. Others have had many allergy symptoms since working there,which we had thought was from dusty air vents or something.

We complained to our manager about the problem again, and our lack of satisfaction at how they supposedly fixed it. She emailed the maintenance manager who replied back today and said there was "no mold" and the problem was plaster deterioration, and "sorry for the confusion".
What??

So today we pulled back a section of wallpaper that they hadn't bothered to "fix" and took a picture of it (complete with black mold, purple,green, you name it) and sent it to our manager (who hadn't seen the mold since she is offsite). Our manager called back right away and said she will pursue the issue.

I cannot believe the maintenance manager is pretending there is no mold! To me it's a health concern to staff and patients. I thought mold had to be taken care of in a specific way, in order for it to not grow back. And I have to continue to work in this room until it's fixed because there is no other space to accomodate the equipment. I'm really disappointed in the company for this, and wonder if they will take our concerns seriously. Do they really think we are that stupid that we don't know what mold is? Uggh!!

 

[OceanAnnie]

Not good at all. I'm glad you are pursuing it. Incredible it's been effectively hidden this long. It is definitely a health hazard for all concerned.

I hope the matter gets attention soon! I would hate to work in a room like that! Ugh.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

Thanks, I just can't believe they are so nonchalant about the matter, and going to ignore it. At least my coworkers and I are not going to let the matter go. It seems like they don't want to spend the money on our department, and when they opened it up, they did it the cheapest way possible. We have no idea how many walls on our unit have mold, because they only peeled back the paper on my wall. Most of our unit's rooms have exterior windows, so who knows how many of our rooms have mold. It's disgusting.

 

[abdmom]

I would suggest contacting your hospital's occupational health and safety officer.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I would suggest contacting your hospital's occupational health and safety officer.

That's a great suggestion. The building needs to be thoroughly inspected.

 

[Disney Doll]

call OSHA.

 

[We_Love_Disney]

Call OSHA ASAP. Your building needs a complete inspection. People with impaired immune systems are in these rooms. How absolutely disgusting that anyone would try and cover it up.