18/01/2011 - Firm fined over asbestos exposure
Health and safety breaches that led to a plumber being exposed to over 50 times the legal limit for asbestos have landed a company owned by Rotherham Council a £7,000 fine.
Firm 2010 Rotherham Limited, which was set up to manage council homes, failed to pass on the results of its asbestos survey to a sub-contractor, resulting in the worker being exposed to the hazardous substance at a property in Orchard Place.
Rotherham Magistrates heard that the survey had revealed the presence on asbestos in a home next door to the one where Barnsley firm Nugas was hired to replace an old bathroom with a shower room.
Since Nugas was not aware of the findings, the plumber it sent was not wearing safe clothing or respiratory protection when he removed tiles from a wall made of asbestos insulating board (AIB), damaging it in the process.
The court was also told that at the time of the incident, the AIB wall next door was being taken out by a licensed asbestos removal service employed by 2010 Rotherham.
Magistrates fined the company £7,000 and ordered it to pay £3,418 in costs.
Copyright © Press Association 2011
Related links
|
