Health and Safety Failings – Family’s Asbestos Exposure Leads To Prosecution

Family’s Asbestos Exposure Leads To Prosecution

Key Facts:

• A self-employed handyman was prosecuted following the unsafe removal of asbestos from a residential property.
• The work left a family of six at risk of asbestos exposure.
• The handyman was ordered to pay costs of £2,000 towards the asbestos removal, and ordered to carry out 250 hours community service.

The Case:

An HSE investigation was launched after concerns were raised about asbestos exposure in a family home.

A 50-year-old self-employed handyman had carried out work at a residential property in April 2013, which included the unsafe removal of asbestos from the property. This left the family, including their four children, at risk of exposure to asbestos.

The case was heard at Canterbury Magistrates’ Court in May 2015, where the handyman pleaded guilty to multiple breaches of the The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. The was ordered to pay costs of £2,000 towards the asbestos removal, and ordered to carry out 250 hours community service.

What The Law States:

Regulation 5(1) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 states:

“An employer must not undertake work in demolition, maintenance or any other work which exposes or is liable to expose employees of that employer to asbestos in respect of any premises unless that employer has carried out a suitable and sufficient assessment as to whether asbestos, what type of asbestos, contained in what material and in what condition is present or is liable to be present in those premises.”

Regulation 8(1) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 states:

“An employer must hold a licence granted under paragraph (2) before undertaking any licensable work with asbestos.”  

Regulation 11(1)(a) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 states:

“Every employer must prevent the exposure to asbestos of any employee employed by that employer so far as is reasonably practical.” 

Regulation 16 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 states:

“Every employer must prevent or, where this is not reasonably practicable, reduce to the lowest level reasonably practicable the spread of asbestos from any place where work under the employer’s control is carried out.” 

Asbestos Exposure – The Facts

Every year, asbestos causes around 5,000 deaths in the UK. It remains the single cause of work-related deaths in the UK.

Asbestos isn’t yet a thing of the past – asbestos can be present in any building built or refurbished before the year 2000. Current estimates suggest that there are still up to 1.3million workers are at risk of asbestos exposure.

When asbestos containing materials are disturbed, fibres are released into the air. If inhaled, they can cause serious diseases. These often take a long time to develop, and it is often too late to do anything after diagnosis.

Find out more about asbestos related diseases in our article here >>

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