The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning that companies or individual contractors removing asbestos without holding the necessary licences face prosecution. This follows the HSE prosecution of Roger Lee Lavender, managing director of Secal Laser Ltd, for the unlicensed removal of asbestos insulation boards from the company's Telford factory. Surveys, conducted in 2004 and 2007, clearly stated that removal of the asbestos from the factory would need to be carried out by a licensed asbestos company. Yet despite admitting knowledge of the 2004 survey, Roger Lavender authorised the unlicensed removal of the identified asbestos and instructed his own employees to carry out the work.
On 8th April 2009 he was fined £6,666 and ordered to pay costs of £11,039.88 at Shrewsbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to failing to ensure that work was undertaken by a licensed company and failure to ensure the safety of his employees.
The court heard that although he was aware of the presence of asbestos and the associated dangers, Lavender instructed two of his employees to remove asbestos insulation boards from within the factory at Halesfield 5, Telford. The court also heard that the work, if done in accordance with the regulations, would have cost in the region of £40,000 and caused severe disruption to the business. The way in which the work was actually done exposed his own employees to the risk of inhaling asbestos fibres.
Speaking after the case, HSE inspector Guy Dale said: "Roger Lavender says that he read the 2004 asbestos survey and therefore should have been aware of the dangers of inhaling asbestos fibres if the material was disturbed. That asbestos survey made it clear that any removal of the material was dangerous and must be carried out by licensed specialists. However, Mr Lavender allowed his employees to be exposed to the serious risk of inhaling a 'Class 1 carcinogen' that can cause mesothelioma and lung cancer.
"Those responsible for employees ordinarily have a legal duty to protect their health and safety but in the case of asbestos they should know that any disturbance of such a dangerous material should only be tackled by licensed workers".
Exposure to asbestos is the biggest single cause of work-related deaths, with around 4,000 people a year dying from asbestos-related disease. The overall number of deaths is rising because a large number of workers who have already been exposed to asbestos dust around 40 years ago will go on to develop mesothelioma, a terminal cancer or other asbestos related diseases.
In Shropshire alone around one person every 12 weeks dies a painful death from Mesothelioma and these deaths are almost exclusively people who have previously been exposed to asbestos. The number of asbestos-related workplace deaths exceeds the figure of deaths in road accidents but many workers, particularly tradesmen, think that they are not personally at risk of exposure to asbestos or the diseases it can cause. They think that since asbestos was banned many years ago, the problem has been dealt with and therefore it is not relevant to them. The reality is very different.
Even today asbestos presents a real and relevant risk to plumbers, joiners, electricians and many other maintenance workers. Asbestos may be present in any building constructed or refurbished before the year 2000 and it is estimated that around 500,000 non-domestic buildings could contain asbestos. These buildings all need repair and maintenance work from time to time and when the asbestos fibres are disturbed e.g. by drilling or cutting, they are likely to be inhaled as a deadly dust.
On 8th April 2009 he was fined £6,666 and ordered to pay costs of £11,039.88 at Shrewsbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to failing to ensure that work was undertaken by a licensed company and failure to ensure the safety of his employees.
The court heard that although he was aware of the presence of asbestos and the associated dangers, Lavender instructed two of his employees to remove asbestos insulation boards from within the factory at Halesfield 5, Telford. The court also heard that the work, if done in accordance with the regulations, would have cost in the region of £40,000 and caused severe disruption to the business. The way in which the work was actually done exposed his own employees to the risk of inhaling asbestos fibres.
Speaking after the case, HSE inspector Guy Dale said: "Roger Lavender says that he read the 2004 asbestos survey and therefore should have been aware of the dangers of inhaling asbestos fibres if the material was disturbed. That asbestos survey made it clear that any removal of the material was dangerous and must be carried out by licensed specialists. However, Mr Lavender allowed his employees to be exposed to the serious risk of inhaling a 'Class 1 carcinogen' that can cause mesothelioma and lung cancer.
"Those responsible for employees ordinarily have a legal duty to protect their health and safety but in the case of asbestos they should know that any disturbance of such a dangerous material should only be tackled by licensed workers".
Exposure to asbestos is the biggest single cause of work-related deaths, with around 4,000 people a year dying from asbestos-related disease. The overall number of deaths is rising because a large number of workers who have already been exposed to asbestos dust around 40 years ago will go on to develop mesothelioma, a terminal cancer or other asbestos related diseases.
In Shropshire alone around one person every 12 weeks dies a painful death from Mesothelioma and these deaths are almost exclusively people who have previously been exposed to asbestos. The number of asbestos-related workplace deaths exceeds the figure of deaths in road accidents but many workers, particularly tradesmen, think that they are not personally at risk of exposure to asbestos or the diseases it can cause. They think that since asbestos was banned many years ago, the problem has been dealt with and therefore it is not relevant to them. The reality is very different.
Even today asbestos presents a real and relevant risk to plumbers, joiners, electricians and many other maintenance workers. Asbestos may be present in any building constructed or refurbished before the year 2000 and it is estimated that around 500,000 non-domestic buildings could contain asbestos. These buildings all need repair and maintenance work from time to time and when the asbestos fibres are disturbed e.g. by drilling or cutting, they are likely to be inhaled as a deadly dust.
