Dalebrick fined £245k for asbestos risk

Nuneaton-based Dalebrick and its owners were fined a total of £245,000 at Birmingham Crown Court earlier this week in relation to the removal of asbestos.

Dalebrick was contracted to carry out clearing and stripping works on the premises on New John Street West, Birmingham, before they could be converted by a development company. Dalebrick hired a team of temporary workers to work on the site, without warning them of the asbestos risk.

Five people were hired, aged between 16 and 26, to do the work, as well as a foreman. The youngest worker had just finished his GCSE examinations. After almost five weeks the team walked off site. A second team was then hired, comprising four men and the same foreman. This team was on site for two days before an Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspector, who was contacted by one of the original team, inspected the site and ordered the work to stop.

HSE inspector Pam Folsom said after the case: "This one of the worst situations I have come across, not only in relation to the asbestos risks, but because work was allowed to go ahead despite the concerns of the workforce.

"There were serious breaches of health and safety law and these attracted serious fines. The law requires work with asbestos to be done safely and there is published guidance available to help achieve compliance.  HSE is grateful to the worker who, realising that the conditions were not right, alerted us to the problem. Had he not done so, this work could have gone on for much longer. "

Folsom also found that there were neither lavatories nor running water on the site. Because of the lack of even basic washing facilities, the original team had tried to use the fire hoses to dampen down the dust in the work areas and to wash themselves.

Dalebrick pleaded guilty to breaching: sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSW Act); regulation 3(1) of the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations 1983 (ALR); and regulation 17(1a) Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 1987 (CAWR). The company was fined £50,000 for each offence, and ordered to pay £65,000 costs.

Morris Williams pleaded guilty to breaching: sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the HSW Act; regulation 3(1) of the ALR; and regulation 17(1a) CAWR. He was fined £10,000 for each offence and ordered to pay £10,000 costs. Williams was also disqualified from holding any directorship for a period of two years from 3 August 2004.

Joanne Carroll pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the HSW Act. Carroll was fined £2,500 for each offence and ordered to pay £500 costs. She was also disqualified from holding any directorship for a period of one year from 3 August 2004.