Section 6B. No person, firm, corporation or other entity shall enter into, engage in, or work at the business of removal, containment or encapsulation of asbestos or materials containing asbestos, involving any building or structure, including those owned or leased by the commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions or authorities, unless such person, firm, corporation or entity shall have received a license therefor, issued by the commissioner and in accordance with the provisions set forth in this chapter.

This legal document, under the Massachusetts General Law, falls under the administration of Labor and Industries. It empowers the commissioner to establish rules and regulations for the protection of the general public and the occupational health and safety of workers involved in activities related to asbestos or materials containing asbestos. These activities include construction, demolition, alteration, repair, and disposal of buildings or structures. The regulations require adequate instruction and training for workers, covering health risks, precautionary measures, protective equipment, and other safeguards.

Section 6D 1/2. No employee shall be penalized by an employer as a result of such employee’s filing of an application to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund or otherwise providing notice to the executive office of health and human services or to a health care provider in regard to the need for health care services for that employee that results in the employer being required to reimburse the fund in whole or in part.

Section 6D. No employee shall be penalized by an employer in any way as a result of such employee’s filing of a complaint or otherwise providing notice to the department in regard to the occupational health and safety of such employee or other workers engaged in the use, handling, removal or disposal of asbestos or materials containing asbestos.

Section 6E. The commissioner, upon determination that there is a violation of any workplace standard relative to the protection of the general public and the occupational health and safety of workers or of any standard or requirement of licensure, may order any work site to be closed by way of the issuance of a cease and desist order enforceable in the appropriate courts of the commonwealth. For purposes of such cease and desist order, the work site may include the area where asbestos related work is being performed and other areas of the building or structure which the commissioner determines may be hazardous to the health and safety of workers or the general public as a result of such asbestos work.

This section of the Massachusetts General Law, specifically Section 6F 1/2, grants the commissioner the authority to bring an action against a person, firm, corporation, or other entity that is engaging in or about to engage in a violation of sections 6A to 6E or any regulations under those sections. The action can be brought in the superior court of the county where the defendant resides or has their principal place of business, or in Suffolk county if the defendant has no place of business within the commonwealth.

Section 6F. Any person, firm, corporation or other entity which violates any provision of sections six B to six E, inclusive, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than fifteen hundred dollars for each such offense. Such violation may be cause for denial, revocation or suspension of a license subject to the determination of the commissioner.

Section 6G. No person, firm, corporation or other entity shall require any other person, firm, corporation or entity to execute a release or waiver of damages caused by exposure to asbestos or asbestos related materials. Any such release or waiver shall be void as against public policy.

Section 7. The commissioner, assistant commissioner and associate commissioners of the department may appoint committees, on which employers and employees shall be represented, to make such investigations and recommend rules and regulations.

Section 8. Before adopting any rule or regulation under section six, a public hearing shall be given, and not less than ten days before the hearing a notice thereof shall be published in at least three newspapers, of which one shall be published in Boston. Such rules or regulations, when approved by the associate commissioners and the assistant commissioner, shall, subject to section thirty-seven of chapter thirty, take effect thirty days after such approval or at such later time as the associate commissioners and the assistant commissioner may fix.