Roofing company in Croydon fined for asbestos and scaffolding failures

Date:

15 July 2011

Release No:

COILDN/15-07

A well established roofing company in Croydon has been fined for unlicensed asbestos removal - at a property where employees also worked on unsafe scaffolding.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Brunwin Professional Roofing Services Ltd after uncovering serious safety failings during a routine inspection at a detached house in Croydon on 28 April 2009.

During the site visit, a HSE inspector discovered that the scaffolding was poorly positioned, creating a gap large enough for the two workers on site to fall through. The company also removed and broke up soffit (fascia) boards made from asbestos containing materials without the mandatory licence and notifications to HSE.

HSE Inspector Bose Ogunsekan, said:

"Falls from height are the biggest cause of fatal injury in the construction industry and recent years have seen sharp increases in cases of ill health linked to asbestos in trades such as roofing.

"Brunwin Professional Roofing Services failed to carry out work in a safe way. Major injuries and fatal accidents can occur on small jobs as well as large schemes. I hope the result of this case indicates the importance of managing health and safety on what was considered to be a small project."

Brunwin Professional Roofing Services Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching safety regulations at City of London Magistrates Court today (15 July 2011). The company - which is registered at Suite L8, Airport House, Purley Way in Croydon - was fined £4,000 for breaching Regulation 8(1) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and £2,000 for breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height 2005 Regulations. Full costs of £2,406 were also awarded against the company, which has been trading for 23 years.

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. Regulation 6(3) of The Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: "Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury." More information at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/735/contents/made
3. Further updates on Working at Height can be found at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/index.htm
4. Regulation 8(1) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states: "Subject to regulation 3(2), an employer shall not undertake any work with asbestos unless he holds a licence granted under paragraph (2) of this regulation." More information at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/2739/contents/made
5. Further updates on working with asbestos can be found at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm
6. Health and safety legislation is currently under the spotlight as part of the Cabinet Office's Red Tape Challenge. To have your say on which regulations should stay and which should be scrapped, visit: http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/home/index/ and the Government will consider your views

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