Source of L & I Anonymous Complaint

    I used to work in a neighborhood recycling center.  
We bought copper and other metal scrap.  We got a letter 
asking us if we would volunteer to have our blood tested 
for lead.  Handling scrap material is hard work.  At the 
end of the day you want to go home, not take a blood test 
so we ignored the letter.  We got a couple of more 
letters and didn't pay any attention since it was a 
request for voluntary action.
    A couple of months later we got a Labor and 
Industries inspection.  Talk about mean, vindictive 
people. The L & I inspector was doing her best to 
intimidate knowing full well she was operating within the 
boundaries of the law but pressing overbearing and 
oppressive behavior as far as she could.
   We were submitted to a series of inspections as we met 
each one of the terms of inspections.  We asked the L & I 
representative why she chose our business and she said it 
was an anonymous complaint.  If you read the state code, 
most agencies are bound by law to investigate anonymous 
complaints.  After ten thousand dollars in fines, 
interviews with each employee, installing new water 
systems, writing safety manuals, installing railings we 
asked the L & I representative once again why she had 
chose our business and she admitted the anonymous 
complaint came from her office because we had not 
volunteered to have our blood tested for lead.
    L & I was not interested in anyone's safety.  Their 
attitude demonstrated they could care less about the 
public they were serving but and they admitted to their 
own objectives when the L & I person let go it was the 
lead tests that prompted the investigation.  It was not a 
customer or employee of the neighborhood recycling center 
as one would suspect.
   I think the only reason the L & I rep broke down at 
the end and told us was what she did was because she had 
pushed her intimidation techniques too far a couple of 
times and we called her on it, putting her attempts at 
job perfection in question.  You could just tell by her 
responses a couple of times that she was caught off 
guard.  Also she was probably impressed that we had gone 
to extraordinary safety lengths of which she had probably 
not run into with other businesses, such as organic 
filtered dust mask for glass breaking, fire 
extinguishers, first aid kits, safety, goggles, etc.
 
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