Archive for the ‘Asbestos News’ Category
Fines for asbestos failures on site
The director of an asbestos surveying firm has been sentenced after failing to manage the spread of asbestos at a demolition site in Leicester.
Shay James, a director of Redditch-based Amencon Ltd, which has since ceased trading, was appointed by Bovis Homes to carry out an asbestos survey of a factory unit in the city’s Humberstone Lane – earmarked to become a new housing development.
In July and August 2008, Mr James carried out the survey with an employee but failed to identify 1,252 sq m of asbestos insulation board (AIB) and lagging.
As a result, part of the building containing AIB and lagging was demolished without putting proper asbestos management processes in place.
School asbestos compensation puts councils under pressure
In landmark ruling, Dianne Willmore wins £240,000 posthumously after exposure as a child
The government faces pressure to assess the risk of asbestos in schools following a landmark legal victory for the family of a woman who died after “low-level” exposure as a secondary school pupil.
The supreme court has upheld a £240,000 compensation claim by Dianne Willmore, 49, in the first case of a former pupil successfully suing a local authority for negligent exposure to the risk of deadly asbestos dust.
Campaigners said the case had “profound” financial implications for local authorities and insurers as it paved the way for similar “low-level exposure” claims.
The judgment comes as the Department for Education’s asbestos steering group called on the education secretary, Michael Gove, to begin a full assessment of asbestos risks to children.
Families win asbestos compensation appeal
Seven Judges at The Supreme Court said two families can keep compensation awarded by the courts for their loved ones deaths.
Both Dianne Willmore and Enid Costello died of mesothelioma, an asbestos cancer, having had small doses of asbestos dust.
Dianne was exposed whilst a pupil at her school and Mrs Costello during her work.
The Council and employers accepted they would have been negligent in allowing them to be exposed to asbestos.
All seven Law Lords said that the test as to whether or not a person should be compensated should remain as the ‘material contribution’ test and not a ‘doubling of the risk’ test as the Council and employers had suggested.
Company fined after exposing workers and the public to asbestos
A refurbishment company has been fined after workers and the public were exposed to asbestos in a Leicestershire village.
Shengxuan Company Ltd was converting a shop in Borough Street, Castle Donington, into a restaurant on 16 June 2010.
Part of the work involved converting an integral garage into a storeroom but in doing so, workers disturbed asbestos-containing materials. This was then put in a skip by the workers, who were unaware of its presence or its risks.
A member of the public with experience in the asbestos industry walked past the site, saw what was in the skip and reported it to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Other debris was also seen on the floor between the skip and the garage.
The HSE’s subsequent investigation found the firm had not made its workers aware of the dangers of asbestos and had not given them any training in how to recognise or deal with it. A prohibition notice was served, stopping all work until the problem was rectified. Read more
Roofing company fined £12,000 over asbestos error
A roofing company has been fined £12,000 for causing asbestos contamination while carrying out cleaning work in a Leicestershire town.
Concept Roofing and Cladding of Hampshire was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after cleaning roofs in Market Harborough.
The company used a pressure washer on industrial roof tiles, causing asbestos fibres to be released.
An HSE spokesman said this method of cleaning was “wholly unsuitable”.
A number of businesses in the Leicestershire County Council-owned units had to close for several weeks and the area had to be decontaminated at a cost of £500,000.
‘Potentially carcinogenic’