An industrial property owner has been prosecuted for exposing untrained workers to dangerous asbestos fibres following a series of failings at a building in Newport.
In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Abergavenny Magistrates’ Court heard today (21 February) that Mr Nasimul Karbani, from Middlesex, employed two workers and then helped them to remove rubbish and debris from a site at Bankside Coverack that he part owned.
The debris included a large amount of asbestos insulation board (AIB), which was cleaned up in an unsafe manner.
Newport City Council notified HSE following concerns about the work. A subsequent HSE investigation found that Mr Karbani did not hold a licence to deal with asbestos in the building, and that he failed to manage the risks to those employed in the clean-up. The men he hired were also not properly trained or equipped, and weren’t decontaminated following the work.
Magistrates were told that Karbani was in possession of information that indicated where the asbestos was located in the building and was warned on two occasions that the work should not be carried out. Despite this, he continued the work.
The HSE investigation also found that Karbani failed to appoint a competent co-contractor to plan and manage the clean-up work, and did not carry out a proper assessment of the risk of exposure to asbestos fibres and its condition in the building before work started.
No-one involved in the management of the project had the skills, training or experience to address health and safety issues, including the risk of asbestos exposure. In addition, Mr Karbani failed to prevent the exposure of his employees to asbestos, and failed to control its spread during the clean-up.
Nasimul Karbani, from Chiltern View Road, West Drayton, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to four separate breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. He was fined a total of £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,015 in costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Steve Richardson said:
“Inhaling asbestos fibres can cause cancer, and around 4000 people die every year from asbestos-related diseases. Those at work must ensure the risk of breathing in the fibres is therefore properly controlled.
“Any work that involves asbestos must be planned and managed by competent personnel with the right training and experience. In this case, Mr Karbani demonstrated significant failings throughout the management of the project, which put the lives of other workers at risk.”
Further information on managing asbestos risks can be found on the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos[1]
Notes to editors
Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related 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]
Section 6(1) the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 states that: “An employer must not carry out work which is liable to expose employees of that employer to asbestos unless that employer has – (a)made a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk created by that exposure to the health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to meet the requirements of these Regulations; (b)recorded the significant findings of that risk assessment as soon as is practicable after the risk assessment is made; and (c)implemented the steps referred to in sub-paragraph (a)””
Section 8 (1) the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 states that: “An employer must hold a licence granted under paragraph (2) before undertaking any licensable work with asbestos.”
Section 10(1) the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 states that: “Every employer must ensure that any employee employed by that employer is given adequate information, instruction and training.”
Section 11(1) the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 states that: “Every employer shall prevent the exposure of his employees to asbestos so far as is reasonably practicable.”
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