Two firms fork out £115k after unlicensed asbestos removal

Two companies have been prosecuted after an unlicensed contractor was appointed to remove 3,000m² of asbestos insulating board from a warehouse.

The Health and Safety Executive took the companies to court on 6 October 2009.

Enfield-based contractor A&T Roofing pleaded guilty to Regulation 3(1) of the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations 1983, and Sections 2(1) and 3(1) Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £33,844.30.

Client Noble Gift Packaging Ltd also pleaded guilty to the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They were fined £40,000 and were ordered to pay costs of £19,223.65.

A&T Roofing had been awarded the contract for the work in November 2005.

The roof was lined with 3,000m² of asbestos insulating board that contained Amosite (brown asbestos fibres), which requires removal in highly controlled conditions by licensed asbestos contractors.

A&T Roofing employees spent 12 weeks removing and smashing the boards before sweeping the dust and debris into bags. The workers were not provided with effective protection, even after the company found out that the material being cleared contained Amosite.

Managers allowed work to continue after employees complained and a tested sample showed the presence of asbestos. Workers at the site were exposed to potentially deadly fibres. These were carried on their clothes and into their homes, vehicles, onto public transport, and may have contaminated the general public and their own families.

Following the hearing HSE Inspector Sarah Snelling said: “A&T Roofing’s cavalier attitude towards the removal of the asbestos has put the future health of their employees, their employees’ families and members of the public in general at serious risk. The exposure suffered by the men working on this project is the worst our specialist inspector has seen in over 15 years of dealing with asbestos cases.

“Not everyone exposed to asbestos goes on to develop life-threatening or terminal asbestos-related conditions such as lung cancer, asbestosis or mesothelioma. However, when people do develop such conditions, it is often many years after they were exposed. All the men exposed, and their families, will have this hanging over them for the rest of their lives.

“The actions of A&T Roofing in this matter were unpardonable; they were told two weeks into the project that they were working with brown asbestos but carried on for another 10 weeks.

“Noble Gift Packaging, as client for the work, should have taken the basic step of having a full asbestos survey done after they were informed in a valuation survey that the roof contained asbestos. This could have prevented this whole tragic case.

“HSE will always push for the harshest penalties in such cases.”