Owner of Kamloops's Craig's Bakery reassures customers after costly safety inspection penalty
A family-owned bakery in Kamloops was fined last month after a workplace B.C. inspection found asbestos in the food prep area.
The circulating story, and the hefty $8,484.63 fine are threatening to Craig's Bakery & Deli which, like other small businesses, have already taken a lot of financial hits in the past two pandemic years.
Owner Craig Einfeld is sharing his side of the story to reassure customers they, and the quality of the product, are of first and foremost concern, and to provide clarification about the recent reports. The owner has recently come in from his home in Chase to take over management of the Kamloops bakery.
“There are a few things that should have been done better and were not and I accept that,” he said. “I was managing the Kamloops outlet from too far away and in retrospect should have been here on the ground overseeing management more.”
READ MORE: WorkSafe slaps Kamloops bakery with $8,500 fine after finding asbestos
The first inspection by Worksafe B.C. late last year revealed a mixing machine in operation that lacked a safeguard, which Einfeld said was corrected right away.
Upon WorkSafe’s second inspection, it was determined floor tiles containing asbestos were sanded and ground in a food prep area with no risk assessment or safety measures taken in relation to asbestos work, according to summary of the penalty.
“I hired a flooring company to resurface a tile floor in the bakery at the beginning of December,” he said. “I was assured by this company several times that their work would meet all WorkSafe standards. It was on a weekend, so food wasn’t being produced at the time.”
“The air quality testing result showed a level of .003 asbestos particulates,” he said. “The acceptable level is .08. We also hired a hazmat company to clean the bakery from top to bottom. WorkSafe and Interior Health did their due diligence in shutting us down following the complaint. We complied with all of the criteria necessary to reopen as quickly as we could at the beginning of December 2021.”
READ MORE: iN VIDEO: Fire destroys Winfield Bakery in Lake Country
Einfeld said he was notified of the fine two months later, and was shocked.
“I think the penalty is too harsh but I’ll take it on the chin,” he said. “People are doing their jobs. The bakery is inspected by these authorities regularly and we have done our due diligence by complying with all inspection orders. Nothing has changed, we are doing the right thing.”
With locations in Chase and Kamloops, Craig’s Bakery has been serving the communities for over 15 years and has a solid customer base.
Einfeld said the Kamloops bakery will continue to provide customers with made-from-scratch, quality products.
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