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PRO INSTALLER APRIL 2014
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Bath building contractors
exposed workers to
deadly asbestos dust
A Bath building contractor exposed
two of its employees to asbestos
dust while working at a residential
property in the city, a court heard on
19 March..
‘without checking for the
presence of asbesos’
Geoff Thomas and Son Ltd allowed the
workmen to demolish a basement ceiling
without checking for the presence of asbestos and sent the pair to work on other jobs
without decontaminating their clothes when
working at the property in New King Street
in January 2013. The incident was investi-
gated by the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) which prosecuted the company at
Bath Magistrates.
The court heard that Geoff Thomas and
Son had been contracted by Curo Places
Ltd (formerly Somer Community Housing
Trust), to replace the ceiling. The two employees carried out the job using hand tools
and pulled parts of the ceiling – made of
asbestos insulation board – down by hand.
When the firm realised the ceiling contained asbestos, it sent the workers off to
do other jobs without decontaminating their
clothes or tools.
HSE’s investigation found the contractors failed to make any assessment for the
presence of asbestos before work started
and once they did identify it they failed to
prevent its spread. The company, which was
not licensed to handle asbestos, also failed
to notify HSE of the work in advance, as it
was required to do.
Geoff Thomas and Son Ltd of Braysdown,
Peasedown St John, Bath pleaded guilty to
two breaches of the Control of Asbestos
Regulations 2012 and was fined a total of
£5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £637.
HSE Inspector Paul Newton, speaking
after the hearing, said:
“The long-term effects of exposure to asbestos materials is the single greatest cause
of work-related deaths in the UK and the
exposure of these two workers to this dangerous substance was entirely preventable.
“It was clear the work would disturb the
fabric of the building, creating a risk of
exposing asbestos, so a full survey of the
area should have been carried out before
work started and suitable plans put in place
to deal with it.
“Geoff Thomas and Son then compounded
the problem by failing to decontaminate the
workers, their clothes and equipment once
the asbestos had been identified. Instead
they were allowed to go to other jobs and
return home, potentially spreading the asbestos to their workmates and families.
“The removal of high-risk, asbestos-containing materials should only be done by a
licensed contractor.”
For further information about
working on asbestos visit:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/
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24/03/2014 14:58