Contractor banned from working with asbestos

Date:

25 November 2009

Release No:

E096:09

An asbestos removal contractor has been banned from working with the deadly mineral after HSE revoked its licence.

Bestoff Services Ltd - of 1 Lane End, West Hyde, Rickmansworth - has now returned its licence to carry out work with asbestos following two serious safety breaches, including one criminal offence.

A hearing to consider the firm's safety failings was told how inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE):

• successfully prosecuted the firm in March 2009 after a survey it carried out failed to spot asbestos in a building and two workmen were exposed to asbestos fibres. Bestoff Services was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2091.70
• uncovered further evidence of health and safety offences following the prosecution and had to issue a prohibition notice preventing asbestos removal work from continuing at Victoria Hospital, Swindon

Greg Haywood, head of HSE's asbestos licensing unit, said:

"Bestoff Services fell a long way short of the standards of professionalism and safety that we demand of licensed removal contractors, and because of their failings they are now banned from working with asbestos.

"HSE will not hesitate to revoke licences to work with asbestos where contractors' performance falls short. It is essential that licence holders apply the highest possible controls with effective leadership and management.

"Asbestos is Britain's biggest industrial killer and claims more than 4,000 lives a year - more than die in road accidents. If work is not carried out safely, workers can and are exposed to deadly airborne fibres that can cut short their life.

The company has not appealed the unanimous decision by the licence review board of HSE's asbestos licensing unit to revoke its licence under Regulation 8(5) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

The board judged that the performance of Bestoff Services Ltd represented a serious deviation from the standards required of licence holders, as set out in the approved code of practice.

Note to editors

1. Further information on asbestos can be found at the asbestos pages of the HSE website: http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm
2. Regulation 8(5) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states:
3. Bestoff Services Ltd of Chorleywood, Hertfordshire pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in March 2009. They were fined £3,000, ordered to pay costs of £2091.70. The company carried out an asbestos survey on an industrial unit on Nuffield Way, Abingdon in February 2008 and reported that there was no asbestos on site. Two members of staff subsequently began work in March removing panels of fibrous board, which tests later showed to contain asbestos. A subsequent survey revealed that asbestos-containing materials were present throughout the building.
4. Asbestos removal work in Britain is carried out under a licensing scheme known as a 'permissioning' regime. It enables work activities involving significant hazards, risks or public concerns to take place once licence holders have demonstrated their technical expertise. Work with asbestos requires a high degree of regulatory control and the purpose of licensing is to achieve this. Licensing is an addition to the general framework of health and safety law. It builds on the fact that the legal duty to manage risk lies with the organisations that create them.
5. The role of the Asbestos Licensing Unit (ALU) is to set national standards for assessment and to encourage those involved in the assessment process to adopt a consistent line, to ensure standards are applied fairly and without prejudice. The ALU team monitors the work of licence-holders across Great Britain by collating all the information received from all site visits and assessments. It then builds a performance history to inform the decision to renew/issue a licence to a particular licence-holder.
6. In addition to standard enforcement action the following sanctions are available to ALU to address licence-holder poor performance.
   • The use of extra licence conditions e.g. the requirement to submit air monitoring results on a quarterly basis;
   • Issue a licence for less than 3 years or reduce the licence term at any time;
   • The refusal to grant a licence on a permanent or temporary basis;
   • The revocation of a licence that prevents the contractor from carrying out licensed work altogether.
7. The HSE runs the Asbestos: The Hidden Killer campaign to warn tradesmen like plumbers, electricians and joiners that they are at risk of asbestos related diseases. For further information see the dedicated website at www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/hiddenkiller/index.htm
8. Regional table showing number of deaths for asbestos related diseases available at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/index.htm#lung

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