Asbestos Warning

A company has been fined for potentially exposing employees and contractors to carcinogenic fibres at their plant in Swansea.
Vale Inco Europe Ltd appeared at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on 6th August 2009 and were fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £28,000 after pleading guilty to four charges under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 in regards to refurbishment work being carried out by a contractor, A-Weld at the company's premises in Clydach.
The company had carried out asbestos surveys on the buildings, but not on the interior of plant and equipment. Subsequently, asbestos insulation material within the reformer furnace was disturbed and broken, giving rise to powder and fibres, posing a greater risk.
Even after workers discovered a white material they suspected was asbestos, the site was not isolated and work continued as normal, while they waited for the results of the sample's analysis confirmed that the material was asbestos.
Andrew Knowles, HSE Principal Inspector said: "There are numerous failures in this case, including the failure to assume that asbestos would be present in the reformer furnace unless it could be proved that it was not. Knowledge that asbestos insulation was present would have resulted in a licensed contractor being used to remove the material and prevented these workers coming into contact with asbestos at all".
"Another important aspect was the failure to provide asbestos awareness training for employees, which is a specific requirement where asbestos may be present in a workplace".
"Asbestos is the greatest single cause of work-related deaths in the UK. Every week, 20 tradesmen die from asbestos related diseases, including mesothelioma - a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by asbestos".
"The failures in this case were entirely preventable and the defendant fell far short of the high standards required. This should serve as a warning to others about the dangers of asbestos and the legal requirement to manage it properly."