Contractors failed to alert workers to presence of asbestos

Date:

8 October 2012

Release No:

SE/184/12

A Wokingham business has been fined for safety failings after two subcontractors were unwittingly exposed to asbestos fibres at Reading University.

Gardner Mechanical Services Ltd had been contracted to undertake a mechanical services upgrade in a room at the university. They subcontracted the project to a Newbury-based company, who in turn subcontracted two self-employed men, Andrew Lloyd and Steve Taylor, to do the work.

Reading Magistrates court heard today (8 October) that on 2 September 2009 the two men drilled through a sprayed asbestos ceiling coating. They had not been made aware that asbestos was in the room and thought all asbestos material had been removed by specialist contractors prior to their work starting.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that as the principal contractor Gardner Mechanical Services was aware that some asbestos-containing materials were to be left on the site. However, they failed to relay this information to the subcontractors in a reliable way.

Gardner Mechanical Services Ltd, of Grovelands Avenue Workshops, Winnersh, Wokingham, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and Regulation 23(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. The firm was fined a total of £28,000 and ordered to pay £22,631 in costs.

After the hearing HSE inspector Adam Wycherley said:

"This case highlights the importance of effective planning when addressing risks in construction, particularly in refurbishment, where there is a higher risk of coming into contact with asbestos.

"Gardner Mechanical Services had a clear duty of care to relay important information to its subcontractors in a reliable manner in order to prevent their exposure to asbestos, but this simply did not happen.

"As a result of poor planning on the part of GMS, two men were exposed to high levels of asbestos fibres, leaving them at risk of contracting serious diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis of the lungs."

Information on working safely with asbestos can be found on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to prevent 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 11(1) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 state: "Every employer shall prevent the exposure of his employees to asbestos so far as is reasonably practicable and 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."
3. Regulation 23(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 state: "The principal contractor shall, before the start of the construction phase, prepare a construction phase plan which is sufficient to ensure that the construction phase is planned, managed and monitored in a way which enables the construction work to be started so far as is reasonably practicable without risk to health or safety."

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