UKAS Accredited Asbestos Inspection Bodies
The Asbestos Inspection Bodies initiative is a collaboration project which highlights UKAS Accredited organisations as the first choice for companies who have to commission surveys for asbestos.
The site is sponsored by UKAS Accredited Organisations in the UK who have the necessary training and experience in all aspects of survey work including survey planning, resources, technical specification, quality control and ACM assessment criteria.
University fined for asbestos failings
Lincoln University has been fined for putting staff, students and contractors at risk of exposure to asbestos.
The failings came to light on 24 February 2010 when a lecturer became trapped in a room after a door lock broke. She enlisted the help of a colleague to release her and once freed, they noticed debris around the door handle.
They notified the university’s health and safety department which examined the door and others in the area, and discovered most were lined with asbestos insulating board (AIB), and that some were damaged.
The university notified the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which carried out its own investigation. It was found that a number of areas across the university’s estate had been subject to asbestos surveys over a number of years and many areas were found to contain asbestos-containing materials or even asbestos debris, yet no remedial action had been taken. Read More
Asbestos compliance checks in schools show 17% failure rate
Asbestos compliance checks which were carried out between November 2010 and June 2011 show that 17% of schools have not implemented adequate asbestos management.
The compliance checks were carried out at 164 voluntary aided and foundation schools and also academies. The 17% failure shows that 28 out of the 164 schools had inadequate management plans, however, another 110 schools received formal advice on how there was room for improvement with regards to their management plans.
Enforcement action taken against the 28 schools was not due to the danger of exposure for teachers and pupils, it was the failure to provide adequate training to staff and also not being able to produce and show inspectors management plans, which caused these failings.
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£19,300 fine for working without an Asbestos Licence
Fadil Adil, of Coniston Road, Bromley, has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for overseeing a demolition project which involved asbestos removal without an asbestos removal licence.
The project involved the demolition of a building which had a restaurant on the ground floor and flats above; the project was being supervised by a Fadil Adil from South East London. The HSE have prosecuted the contractor for running a construction site which led to workers being exposed to asbestos-containing-material.
The demolition took place between the 21st to the 29th of June 2010, where asbestos insulating boards were present in the ground floor restaurant ceilings. The ceilings were broken up by three workmen using sledgehammers and hand-operated breakers meaning there is a strong possibility that the workmen were exposed to asbestos fibres.
An investigation by the HSE found that the defendant did not have a licence permitting him to work with asbestos nor was he trained in construction management.
HSE regulations state that an asbestos survey needs to be carried out on construction sites where asbestos might be present; this will ensure that guidance and training is provided to the workmen in order to make them aware of asbestos containing areas. Investigation found that there was no survey and that workers were not informed.
Ian Seabrook, an HSE Inspector said: Read More
A £1m fine for Marks and Spencer asbestos exposure at Reading store
At Bournemouth Magistrates’ court Marks and Spencer have been fined £1m for failing to protect customers, staff and workers from potential exposure to asbestos during refurbishment at stores in Reading, Bournemouth and Plymouth.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) initiated the criminal proceedings against Marks and Spencer plc and three other companies for asbestos-related breaches during refurbishment work at shops. It has been said that the management of the ‘retail giant’ were more concerned about the refurbishment works being ‘unsightly and ‘interfering with the shopping experience’, than controlling the exposure of the cancer causing fibres.
Bournemouth crown court was told that Marks and Spencer plc, did not allocate sufficient time and space for the removal of asbestos-containing materials at the Reading store. The contractors had to work overnight in enclosures on the shop floor, with the aim of completing small areas of asbestos removal before the shop opened to the public each day. Read More