HSE/GNN.Lon/018/07 19 October 2007

HSE warns employers to ensure they manage asbestos properly in their buildings after a South London NHS Trust fined £5000

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning employers to ensure they take proper precautions over the management of asbestos in their buildings. This follows HSE’s prosecution of a South London NHS Trust.

St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, Tooting, Wandsworth was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,432 at the City of London Magistrates’ Court, after it pleaded guilty of breaching Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002.

An HSE investigation found that the Trust did not have an effective system to manage asbestos materials at The Groves residential block nor did it control the risk of exposure to asbestos fibre in the building, despite being repeatedly made aware of its presence over a number of years. Asbestos containing materials were present in the building and were regularly damaged by workmen and cleaned up or repaired by Trust employees.

Hazel McCallum, HSE Inspector, said: "It is disappointing when large organisations such as the Trust put people at risk by not taking a responsible approach. The risks associated with exposure to airborne asbestos fibres are well known and the measures required to control it are easily achievable". The magistrate commented "that this was a serious offence. There was a lack of communication and a lack of action by the defendant. However, credit was given for the early guilty plea and this was the reason for not committing the case to the Crown Court"

Notes to editors

1. Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 (now repealed and replaced by the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006) states,
   
   "An employer shall not carry any work which exposes or is liable to expose any of his employees to asbestos" unless either -
   1. before commencing that work, he has identified, by analysis or otherwise, the type of asbestos involved in the work; or
   2. he has assumed that the asbestos is (not chrysotile alone) and for the purposes of these Regulations has treated it accordingly. 
2. Asbestos is the single biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK. It is a priority for HSE to reduce the number of deaths caused by occupational exposure to asbestos. Inhalation of airborne asbestos fibres can lead to serious and deadly diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma (a cancer of the lining of the lung) and asbestosis (an irreversible scarring of the lungs that causes a decrease in lung function).
3. Further information on managing asbestos can be found at hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by Government News Network London.  For more information please contact Matthew Hall on 020 7261 8343, Matthew.Hall@gnn.gsi.gov.uk