Council and Contractors Fined for Unsafe Asbestos Removal
A local authority and it’s contractor have been fined after a worker left a family exposed to dangerous asbestos fibres for three days.
City of Lincoln Council and County Waste (Lincs) Ltd were prosecuted by the HSE after insulation boards were incorrectly removed.
In Court it was revealed that the City Council was refurnishing the bathroom of a property in the city and contracted County Waste (Lincs) Ltd to investigate the removal of asbestos insulation boards. However, County Waste (Lincs) Ltd was not licensed to work with asbestos.
The employee carrying out the work lacked adequate information or training about the hazards from exposure to asbestos. The Court was told he simply prised off the panels using a crowbar, breaking them in the process before putting the pieces in a sack for disposal.
Broken panels and asbestos debris were left on the bathroom floor and the worker walked around for the rest of the day in clothing that may have been contaminated with asbestos fibres.
The tenant complained to the Council and employees visited the property to carry out an inspection, however they failed to tell the tenant there was a problem and did not move the family to another property for three days.
After pleading guilty to number of health and safety breaches, City of Lincoln Council was fined £10,000 and County Waste (Lincs) Ltd was fined £4,250 and ordered to pay costs of £12,000 and £6,000 respectively.
HSE Inspector Martin Giles said:
“The Council failed to ensure the contractor was competent to carry out the work and had no procedures in place to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to its employees. It failed to protect its tenants and ensure that they were not exposed to risks to their health following the release of asbestos fibres.”
“Not informing the family about the seriousness of the problem and leaving them in the property for three days before re-housing them was an irresponsible and unacceptable act for a landlord.”
Because County Waste (Lincs) Ltd failed to provide adequate information, instruction and training to ensure employees liable to be exposed to asbestos were able to safeguard themselves and others, it did nothing to prevent the spread of asbestos from the bathroom and removed the material from the property without being in an appropriately sealed receptacle or wrapping.”
“Asbestos is a hidden killer and the HSE has a wealth of information on it’s website to help employers manage the risks of working with the material. There is no excuse for ignorance when dealing with people’s lives.”
If you have had any similar experience, please contact our freephone number 0800 294 3065 for free advice on what you should do to report any breaches.
I work with a local authority and removed windows after being told the soffits attached to them were cement board.later we found out this was a lie it was asbestos cement which the council new but it would have cost them to much money to remove it .About 12 of us filled out incident reports but the council health and safety seem to have buried these as it affects so many houses they know
Hi James
The first thing to remember is that although asbestos is very dangerous the majority of people who are exposed to it are not affected by it. Thus, given your relative small exposure, the chances of you developing an asbestos related condition are fairly remote.
However this does not excuse the Council for exposing you to such a risk. Our advice would be to report this matter to the Health and Safety Executive, they can be contacted on 0845 3450055 or at http://www.hse.gov.uk/
I am the person whom the council failed in this incident and i would urge anyone with any concerns to contact the HSE. More awareness is key but councils cannot get away with their cowboy attitudes. I have to live with this for the rest of my life, though minimal I could be a ticking timebomb let alone what it has done to my son whos lungs were already compromised. Take no chances!! If in doubt..ask!
Hi Lorena,
Any concerns, no matter how small, should be reported to the HSE. You and James aren’t the only members of the public to have contacted us with serious concerns of asbestos in council properties. Unfortunately when reported, local authorities don’t always appear to take these matters as seriously as expected and therefore the HSE should always be notified.
the sad thing is I only contacted the HSE to get information about how the exposure would affect me and my child.. if i hadnt then the prosecution wouldnt have happened as RISSOR not applicable (aparantly) in the incidfent. So by not simply giving me information I needed they ended up with a big fine etc but all they were and still are bothered about is the dent in there reputation.. i am a mere number in there eyes
I live in a second floor flat and I was advised that there was asbestos. We had someone come round who carelessly knocked a huge hole into my bathroom ceiling wall and left it open. Yesterday we had a leak, and because they were unable to get into my neighbour’s flat above to stop it we asked them to cover the hole over and after 4 hours they did with a thin piece of wood.
My son is 16 months old and has severe asthma and is constantly coughing. It took the council 12 hours to send someone out and that is only because I followed it up and rang the emergency line.
What do you suggest?
Without prolonged exposure it is unlikely there will be any long term problems. However I would recommend you contact the Environmental Health – they should be able to do air fibre tests to determine whether there are any airbourne particles.
i have asbestos all in my cellings,i have had 2 asbestos specialests for quotes i get told they are too dear for the housing assosiation to pay so sending there own boys in.they decided to overboard the celling,stop work because they sent a electrician in and the whole house needs rewireing,they have drilled 3 big holes in 2 cellings to check for joists in cellings,took the coving off walls,now because they wont move my 6 kids me and husband who is disabled in this larg.e 4 bed 3 story house,too much money im getting very concerned as these builders are telling me that they have to make joists on top of celling then board it ontop off old celling no plaster because furniture is in there and needs to be clear for the plasterer wont do it so now they are only plastering up the stairs and rewirering on top with plastic strips everywere.im worried do these know what they are doing.
Whilst long term health problems are unlikely to develop without prolonged exposure to asbestos, the housing association have a duty of care in the safe detection and removal of any asbestos and should ensure they are protecting the health of not only their tenants but also their contractors.
I would recommend that you make your concerns known to the association and at the same time you should report the matter to the Health and Safety Executive or local Environmental Health office who will no doubt carry out their own investigations.