Health and Safety Failings – Borough Council Fined For Asbestos Exposure

Borough Council Fined For Asbestos Exposure

Key Facts

• A borough council have been fined for knowingly exposing workers to asbestos.
• Two asbestos surveys had identified the presence of asbestos in the Town Hall basement, but no plan was put in place for managing the risk.
• They were issued an Improvement Notice and fined £66,000 plus costs.

The Case

The HSE launched an investigation into the safety practices of a borough council after concerns over asbestos exposure.

Asbestos was identified in the Town Hall basement in a survey commissioned by the borough council in 2002, yet they failed to ensure that staff and visiting contractors were not put at risk of asbestos exposure. Staff were allowed to continue working as normal in the basement for the next ten years. As a result, they were exposed to potentially lethal asbestos relate illnesses.

The borough council’s asbestos issue was uncovered when a local resident’s request for election expenses documents was denied on the grounds that the paperwork was contaminated with asbestos. The member of the public contacted the HSE Mythbuster Challenge Panel who referred the case to HSE inspectors for further investigation.

The HSE inspectors found that a second asbestos survey carried out for the borough council in Jan 2012 had again identified problems of asbestos. This survey also highlighted that areas identified in the 2002 survey had not been addressed. They also found that there was no plan in place for managing the risks of asbestos. The borough council was served with an Improvement Notice.

The case was heard at Westminster Magistrates Court on 30 Mar 2016 where the council pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and a breach of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. They were fined £66,000 plus costs of £16,862.

What the HSE inspector had to say

Speaking after the hearing the HSE inspector Chris Tilley said

‘Waltham Forest was aware of the asbestos in the basement as far back as 1984. It was also aware of the risks from asbestos exposure and of its duty to manage those risks. However, the authority singularly failed to do so over more than a decade. Over that period, an unquantifiable number of its own employees plus workers from maintenance companies and similar were regularly exposed to these hazards.

Asbestos-related disease has a long latency and it is impossible to ascertain what injury may have been caused in this case. But asbestos is a known and powerful carcinogen and owners or managers of non-domestic premises, such as councils, have a legal duty to manage the material in their buildings and have measures and controls in place to protect workers and the public from being exposed.’

What the law states

Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states:

‘It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.’

Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states:

‘It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.’

Regulation 4(8) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states:

‘Where the assessment shows that asbestos is or is liable to be present in any part of the premises the dutyholder shall ensure that (a) determination of the risk from that asbestos is made; (b) a written plan identifying those parts of the premises concerned is prepared; and (c) the measures which are to be taken for managing the risk are specified in the written plan.’

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