 |
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.
Back to News Headlines >
|
