Company fined for exposing plumber to asbestos
Categories:
General Health and Safety |
A housing management firm has been fined £7,000 for allowing one of its sub-contractors to be exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos without wearing protective clothing.
The Rotherham-based company employed a worker to remove the bathroom of a council house and install a level-access shower room, but the employee's firm was not told that the house next door was found to have asbestos in its bathroom during a 2010 property survey.
As a result, the plumber removed tiles fixed to a wall of asbestos insulating board while wearing no protective clothing or respiratory equipment.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was required to pay costs of £3,418.
Health and Safety Executive inspector Dave Bradley commented: "The method of removal of the tiles by [the] plumber, and the subsequent cleaning and bagging of the debris, are liable to have resulted in a significant exposure to asbestos fibres.
"It is imperative that information on the location of asbestos is provided to contractors before they are allowed to begin work. In this case [the company] could have done this as they had the results from an asbestos survey on an identical property next door, and probably entirely prevented the asbestos fibre exposure," he added.
Appropriate workwear is recommended for such operations.
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