Asbestos contractors put workers and public at risk

Despite recent high profile campaigns on the dangers of working with asbestos, some companies are still failing to manage the risks robustly, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said, following its prosecution of a plant hire company and a construction services firm.

In 2009, Mansell Construction Services of Croydon and sub-contractor Woodlands Plant Hire Ltd of Ickleton, South Cambridgeshire, put workers and the public at risk by failing to properly manage the presence of asbestos during the refurbishment of a residential block of flats.

During the work in an occupied London Borough of Hackney block of flats, asbestos insulation board was disturbed and removed by unlicensed contractor, Woodlands Plant Hire Ltd, potentially releasing the deadly substance into the air. A previous survey, identifying the presence of asbestos insulation board in a number of the properties, had been provided to Mansell, but had not been acted upon or passed to their sub-contractors.

Mansell pleaded guilty to breaches of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, while Woodlands pleaded guilty to breaches of the 2006 Control of Asbestos Regulations. The firms were fined £50,000 each with costs.