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Custodian's illness linked to asbestos in Acadian Peninsula school

Raymond Baskin, a school janitor on the Acadian Peninsula, has traced his respiratory illness to working around asbestos.

Raymond Baskin suffers from pulmonary fibrosis after working 30 years at École La Rivière in Pokemouche

Bridget Yard · CBC News ·
Baskin worked for 30 years in a school where asbestos was present. (Bridget Yard/CBC News)

Raymond Baskin, a school janitor on the Acadian Peninsula, has traced his respiratory illness to working around asbestos.

Baskin started experiencing shortness of breath in 2013 and went to his doctor for help.

Old building materials in Ecole la Rivière in Pokemouche have raised suspicion because of the presence of asbestos. (Bridget Yard/CBC News)
"[The doctor said], 'what you have, normally, you get that from working in asbestos.' I said I didn't think I had been working in asbestos," said Baskin.

But after some investigation at École de la Rivière, the school he works in, he learned asbestos was present.The  Francophone School District North-East has since removed it.

WorkSafeNB is now compensating Baskin for medication and travel. The agency is also working with a South Carolina law firm, Motley Rice, to file claims with American asbestos companies in an attempt to get compensation for injured workers from bankruptcy trusts created by American companies. The agency told Baskin he may receive a call from the firm. 

The agency wouldn't comment on Baskin's file specifically, but Sonia Lanteigne, Privacy and Access to Information Coordinator with WorkSafeNB, sent an email statement to CBC News.

"When the worker elects to receive benefits, WorkSafeNB may bring an action against that person or company in the injured worker's name to recover the damages entitled, including costs of the claim paid by WorkSafeNB, by virtue of the legislative provision of subrogation in Workers' Compensation Act," said Lanteigne. 

"The Act permits WorkSafeNB to seek all those damages attributable to the injury from the responsible third party. Throughout this process, WorkSafeNB continues to pay compensation benefits to the injured worker."

Meanwhile, Raymond Baskin continues to work at École La Rivière.
Raymond Baskin uses a mist machine twice a day to clear his lungs and improve his breathing. (Bridget Yard/CBC News)

Baskin takes natural remedies to treat his pulmonary fibrosis and shortness of breath, and plans to continue working as long as he can.

"According to my doctor, I can be stable for a certain length of time and it can be all downhill for me after that," he said. 

 "As far as working, retirement was never in my plans. I worked all my life. I'm kind of too old to stop."

Clarifications

  • An earlier version of this story stated that WorkSafeNB was working with an American firm to sue asbestos companies based there. WorkSafeNB has since provided more information, including the fact that the U.S. legal action is not a lawsuit, but a bid to get compensation for claimants from various bankruptcy trusts created by American companies.
    Sep 11, 2015 1:29 PM AT
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