Prosecutions

At Dunfermline Sheriff Court recently, Fife Council was fined £10,000 after pleading guilty to a charge under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The contractor, a building maintenance company, who was working for Fife Council was fined £3,700 after pleading guilty to charges under sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Fife Council had contracted the building maintenance company to replace water storage tanks within the communal loft areas of properties. Some of these tanks were insulated with asbestos. The contractor was not licensed by HSE to remove asbestos nor was it competent to do the work. Workers had not been adequately trained so did not recognise the presence of asbestos, or the risks posed by it and they also failed to implement established control measures to minimise the exposure to themselves as well as to other people in the vicinity.

The inspecting officer from the HSE commented, "Fife Council failed to keep an understandable register of asbestos and failed to ensure that a full survey for asbestos was carried out prior to any work starting, so the information available was not sufficient to alert persons to the immediate danger from the asbestos prior to the work beginning.

"The Council failed to identify that asbestos was present in the area where work was to take place, and the contractor then failed to recognise it, resulting in the asbestos becoming airborne as it was disturbed and spread into public areas of the buildings."