Posts Tagged ‘asbestos management’
Welsh hospital under further asbestos-management scrutiny
The Welsh Government has launched an independent review into the management of asbestos at Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth.
The hospital failed to implement effective controls to manage asbestos after a survey in 2004 found the substance in stairwells and lift shafts. The unsafe practices, which required maintenance workers to operate in these areas, continued until 2009, when they were quickly identified by the hospital’s new Health Board and reported to the HSE.
However, the HSE was powerless to pursue a prosecution over the asbestos breaches because of a legislative error, which failed to ensure that issues of previous corporate criminal responsibility were transferred to the Hywel Dda Local Health Board when it was created – along with six others – in 2009, as part of NHS reforms in Wales.
The chief executive of NHS Wales, David Sissling, has now commissioned an independent review into the management of asbestos at the hospital, so that lessons can be learned for the wider organisation. The review will be undertaken alongside the ongoing investigation by the HSE and the internal inquiry by the Health Board.
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M&S and its contractors found guilty of asbestos breaches
Retail giant Marks and Spencer and two of its contractors were found guilty today of failing to protect customers, staff and workers from the possibility of being exposed to asbestos during major refurbishment works at two of its stores.
The clothing and food store was subject to a three-month trial at Winchester Crown Court on charges of failing to ensure all steps were taken to prevent the deadly fibres from being unleashed in the shops.
The management is claimed to have been more concerned about the works being “unsightly” and “interfering with the shopping experience” of customers, the court heard.
The prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) related to works carried out at the company’s stores in Reading, Berkshire, and Bournemouth, Dorset.
The trial heard that construction workers at the two stores removed asbestos-containing materials that were present in the ceiling tiles and elsewhere.
But M&S did not allocate sufficient time and space for the removal of the asbestos-containing materials at the Reading store, the court was told.
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, the court heard.
The HSE alleged that M&S failed to ensure that work at Reading complied with the appropriate minimum standards set out in legislation and approved codes of practice.
After nearly four days of deliberations, the jury found M&S guilty of two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 of failing to ensure the health and safety of its staff and others at the Reading store.
Co-defendants Willmott Dixon Construction Limited, of Hertfordshire, was found guilty of contravening sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at the Bournemouth store.
And Manchester-based company PA Realisations Ltd (formerly Pectel Ltd), was found guilty of contravening regulation 15 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 at the Reading store. Read More
School hall to be closed for several weeks after workmen find asbestos
IT could be several weeks before pupils at a Derbyshire special school are able to use their hall again after asbestos was discovered.
Up to 70 pupils at Alfreton Park Community Special School were sent home on Friday, two days after ceiling tiles worked loose in the main hall.
Now asbestos has been found in the girders holding the tiles in place.
The area was immediately sealed off and it will be two weeks before the asbestos can be removed and repairs are carried out.
It is not known if it the hall will be open in time for when pupils return in September.
Head teacher Rosemary McKenzie said it had been a very hectic time for everyone at the school.
She said: “We have been busy creating alternative ways of getting our able-bodied and less able-bodied pupils around the school without going through the hall.
“We have also had to make sure we can get treatment to pupils in cases of emergency.
“It has now been possible to create a sealed tunnel through the hall to make life easier.
“It is good we are breaking up next Thursday. But I think it is unlikely that any work will be finished before we return in September.” Read More
Acquisition of AH Allen
AH Allen is an integrated Health and Safety Consultancy specialising in Asbestos Management
We are pleased to announce that Redhills today have acquired 100% of the share capital of AH Allen Limited, an asbestos management consultancy based in Hull. AH Allen Limited had revenues of £1.2m and profit before tax of £277,000.
AH Allen will be integrated into Redhills, providing both additional capacity and access to a wider client base, particularly in the North of England and Scotland.
AH Allen is a long established business with a strong client base with 17 staff of which 14 are qualified asbestos consultants. AH Allen works to the same principles as Redhills and prides itself on quality and professionalism
Sean Nutley, Group CEO, said: “AH Allen has a long-standing reputation for its environmental expertise and service quality and as such is a perfect fit for Redhills. This acquisition will extend the Group’s Consulting geographic coverage and provide further scale to our operations. The deal is both value enhancing in the short term and a further step towards our strategic vision of becoming the UK’s leading specialist environmental support services business. Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the AH Allen team into the Silverdell Group.” Read More