Council fined £20k after workers put at risk of asbestos exposure

A borough council has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay more than £5,000 in costs after serious safety failings put workers at risk of exposure to asbestos during preparations for a regeneration project.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council had bought the Music and Drama Club in Buchanan Street, Stockton, and planned to demolish it.

A survey carried out in April 2010 identified areas of the building that contained asbestos. The usual practice of clearing and stripping the building was carried out by one of the authority’s Care For Your Area teams over the weekend of 29-31 May 2010.

However, when a contractor came to carry out the asbestos removal and demolition of the building in July, it was discovered that the earlier work had disturbed the fabric of the building and some items containing asbestos had already been removed.

A second survey conducted in August 2010 revealed that asbestos had been disturbed or removed in eight areas within the building. The matter was reported to the Health and Safety Executive in October 2010.

The HSE investigation found that:

  • The council had failed to make an assessment of the risk created by the presence of asbestos before the clearance work began. “There was a chance the workers could be exposed to asbestos, but no plan of work had been agreed and measures taken to prevent potential exposure were inadequate,” the regulator said;
  • Workers were not told asbestos was present and had received no asbestos awareness training;
  • The council failed to ensure that those organising the work had the necessary competence to do so;
  • The council failed to prevent or reduce the spread of asbestos as employees and others working in the building wore their work uniforms and travelled home in them each day;
  • No measures were taken to ensure the safe disposal of debris from the club. The debris had been put into a refuse vehicle and disposed of as municipal waste.

At Teesside Magistrates’ Court, the local authority pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

HSE inspector Natalie Wright, said: "This prosecution should act as a reminder to others that they need a system in place to ensure that asbestos is properly managed in their properties."