Five exposed to asbestos at Manchester's Arndale centre

Date:

19 August 2010

Release No:

HSE/NW/45ERS

A shop fitting company has been fined after five workers were exposed to potentially deadly asbestos fibres at the Arndale Centre in Manchester.

Eastern Regional Shopfitters Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after it ignored a report which stated asbestos was present in a shop it was working on.

Two workers spent five days ripping out old shop fittings in October 2009 before they discovered that asbestos had been used in some of the ceiling panels. Another three management staff at the Arndale Centre were also potentially exposed to the fibres during routine checks on the work.

Eastern Regional Shopfitters admitted three breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and one of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £4,000 at Trafford Magistrates' Court.

Mark Green, 45 from Cambridge, was one of the two shop fitters to be exposed to asbestos fibres. He said:

"It plays on my mind. I am more aware of the possibility I may become ill and that my life has unwittingly been put on the line.

"I hope that companies in the construction industry, no matter what their size, now begin to take asbestos more seriously. They should put everyone who works for them on asbestos awareness courses because workers need to be more aware.

"When I go on a job now, the first question I ask is 'Have you done an asbestos report?' and then, if it is present, 'What will your actions be?'."

Tom Merry, the investigating inspector at HSE, said:

"Eastern Regional Shopfitters knew asbestos was present in the shop but it didn't inform its workers and it didn't ensure it was dealt with safely.

"Asbestos only becomes a risk if it is disturbed so the shop fitters could have worked safely if they knew where the asbestos was. It should either have been sealed or removed by a licensed contractor before the work started.

"Five people now have to live with the knowledge that they may become ill with a life-threatening lung disease. Shop fitting and property maintenance companies must treat the risks from asbestos seriously so more lives aren't put in danger in the future."

Eastern Regional Shopfitters Ltd was charged with breaching Regulations 5, 8 and 11 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 by failing to carry out a suitable assessment of the asbestos, carrying out asbestos removal without a license, and exposing workers to asbestos.

The company, of Norman Way Industrial Estate in Over near Cambridge, also pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by putting workers at risk.

Eastern Regional Shopfitters was ordered to pay £3,215 towards the cost of the prosecution, in addition to the fine, on 19 August.

Asbestos is the biggest single cause of work-related deaths in the UK, with an estimated 4,000 people dying every year. Information on working safely with asbestos is available at www.hse.go.uk/asbestos

Notes to editors

1. Regulation 5 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states: "An employer shall not undertake work in demolition, maintenance, or any other work which exposes or is liable to expose his employees to asbestos in respect of any premises unless...he has carried out a suitable and sufficient assessment as to whether asbestos, what type of asbestos, contained in what material and in what condition, is present or is liable to be present in those premises."
2. Regulation 8 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states: "An employer shall not undertake any work with asbestos unless he holds a licence."
3. Regulation 11 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states: "Every employer shall prevent the exposure of his employees to asbestos so far as is reasonably practicable."
4. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."
5. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

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