Council fined after putting worker in asbestos danger

Date:

28 September 2010

Release No:

WM236/10

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has been fined after sending an employee to deal with a water leak in a housing complex without warning him asbestos was present.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the council after it failed to warn the trained plumber that asbestos was present at a sheltered accommodation complex, despite possessing a survey detailing where it was.

Nuneaton Magistrates Court heard that on 17 August 2009 the employee was sent to Craddock Court in the town after a leak was reported. He found the faulty pipe in a ceiling void on the first floor of the building after removing an asbestos insulation board (AIB) ceiling sheet.

As the worker was unaware he was dealing with asbestos, he used a hand saw to cut part of the AIB sheet to gain access to the leaking pipe. He stood directly underneath the tile while sawing the material for around 20 minutes and though covered in dust was not wearing any personal protective clothing.

Nuneaton and Bedworth BC pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 4(9)(c) and Regulation 11(1) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. The council was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,140.

HSE inspector Mike Ford said:

"This case is particularly disappointing as we expect more from local authorities who actually have a duty to enforce the law concerning asbestos, and should be setting a good example.

"The dangers of asbestos are well known in the building industry so for Nuneaton and Bedworth BC not to inform its employee of its presence showed a major failing in the Council's procedures at that time.

"The council had in its possession an asbestos survey for Craddock Court which included the details of the AIB above the first floor corridor.

"It is equally distressing that the work was being carried out in a public area of a sheltered accommodation complex. We can't stress enough how important it is for anyone carrying out building work to obtain the proper asbestos surveys and then act upon them."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce 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.
2. Regulation 4(9)(c) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states: The measures to be specified in the plan for managing the risk shall include adequate measures for:
   • monitoring the condition of any asbestos or any substance containing or suspected of containing asbestos;
   • ensuring any asbestos or any such substance is properly maintained or where necessary safely removed; and
   • ensuring that information about the location and condition of any asbestos or any such substance is:
     • provided to every person liable to disturb it, and
     • made available to the emergency services.
3. Regulation 11(1) 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;
   • where it is not reasonably practicable to prevent such exposure:
     • take the measures necessary to reduce the exposure of his employees to asbestos to the lowest level reasonably practicable by measures other than the use of respiratory protective equipment, and
     • ensure that the number of his employees who are exposed to asbestos at any one time is as low as is reasonably practicable.

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News & PR (West Midlands)