26/11/2010 - Company owner fined over asbestos
Four employees of a window and conservatory installation firm face a lifetime of worry over their health after being exposed to asbestos.
The four were removing soffits on a property at Chirbury Gate in Montgomery, Powys, between June 16 and 17 last year when the exposure occurred.
Philip Davies, 54, who traded as Meadow View Windows and Conservatories, was fined £3,000 by Welshpool magistrates for failing to protect his workers from exposure to the substance, which is the biggest cause of UK work-related deaths, with an estimated 4,000 people dying annually.
Davies admitted exposing employees to asbestos, failing to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment, and failing to ensure adequate information, instruction and training was provided to employees following an investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). He was fined £1,000 each for breach of Regulations 5, 10(1) and 11(1)(a) of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2006 and must also pay £1,615 in costs.
HSE inspector Chris Wilcox said: "Four of Mr Davies's employees were exposed to asbestos in circumstances that were wholly avoidable. They now have to live with the fear of becoming ill with a life-threatening lung disease."
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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