Pontypool building firm prosecuted for unlicensed asbestos work

Date:

30 July 2010

Release No:

825W10

A Pontypool building firm carried out unlicensed asbestos removal despite being warned materials they were handling contained the potentially dangerous substance.

During a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution on Thursday (29 July) Caerphilly Magistrates' Court heard Ron Couch Building Contractors Ltd, were replacing a central heating boiler at a private property in High Street, Pontypool.

Carpenters from the Griffithstown-based firm removed a cupboard door clad with asbestos insulation board (AIB) in order to take out the boiler.

A supervisor from a licensed contractor working in a nearby property approached the men when he saw the door outside and warned them of the presence of AIB.

The law states that any work involving AIB must be done by licensed contractors but the HSE investigation found workers were instructed by a senior manager to seal the walls of the cupboard with plasterboard.

At a hearing in Caerphilly Magistrates' Court, Ron Couch Building Contractors Ltd Panteg Station, Station Road, Griffithstown pleaded guilty to two charges under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. The company was fined a total of £2,500 and ordered to pay £1,250 costs.

HSE Inspector Steve Richardson said:

"The company was well aware of its legal duties in terms of asbestos work as, prior to this incident, it carried out removal of the asbestos boiler flue in a safe manner using qualified personnel.

"AIB poses less of a risk if not damaged, but this work exposed the edges of the board increasing the risk of releasing asbestos fibres which could be inhaled by the workers and anyone else using the premises.

"This is one of the main reasons why this type of work must be carried out by a licensed contractor, and the work should have stopped as soon as the company was made aware it was AIB."

Asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK. Asbestos in good condition is safe unless fibres become airborne and are inhaled, which can happen when materials are damaged.

Breathing in high levels of asbestos fibres increases the risk of getting an asbestos-related disease. More information on asbestos can be found on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm.

Notes to editors

1. 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
2. The company was charged under sections 6 and 8 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and were fined £1,250 for each charge.
3. Section 6 states that "An employer shall not carry out work which is liable to expose his employees to asbestos unless he has
   1. made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk created by that exposure to the health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to meet the requirements of these Regulations;
   2. recorded the significant findings of that risk assessment as soon as is practicable after the risk assessment is made; and
   3. implemented the steps referred to in sub-paragraph."
4. Section 8 states that "...an employer shall not undertake any work with asbestos unless he holds a licence..."

Press enquiries

Regional reporters should call the appropriate Regional News Network press office.

Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News and PR Wales