What happens when asbestos goes wrong? Every day there are incidents with asbestos that could have easily been avoided. Here we have highlighted recent incidents that have been highlighted in the press during January 2013:
Engineering Company and Building Company Fined
In January two companies had to pay just under £30,000 pounds in costs and fines due what has been described a catalogue of errors. Staff that were not trained were in charge of the operation, the project was mismanaged and also there were inadequate surveys identifying asbestos materials. HSE stated both companies failed throughout with the management of the project. If an appropriate asbestos survey had been carried out and then dealt with then all risk would have been eliminated.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2013/rnn-w-wallcolmonoyoaktree.htm
Hospital Trust Fined
The hospital trust paid in excess of £7,500 in court costs and fines due to contractors drilling through a door surround which was constructed from asbestos insulating board. The HSE investigation identified that the hospital had survey information which highlighted the asbestos surrounding the door yet this information was not passed tot the contractors even though the trust and contractors had several site meetings. HSE stated that the hospital had placed considerable resource into identifying asbestos but failed with their systems to pass this information on to the contractors.
