Two companies have been fined after a teenage worker was exposed to asbestos.

The 16-year-old had been working for P Turnbull Joinery and Building Services Ltd on an outbuilding of a domestic property after the firm had been hired by Alt Berg Holding Limited to refurbish the property in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

He had been breaking up cement sheets taken from the roof of the property and putting them into a skip on 7 June 2021. Asbestos was later found to be in the cement sheets, exposing the worker to asbestos fibres.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Alt Berg Holdings Limited had failed to carry out an asbestos refurbishment and demolition survey of the property, which would have identified the asbestos. P Turnbull Joinery and Building Services Ltd had not properly assessed the work and failed to prevent the worker being exposed to asbestos.

P Turnbull Joinery and Building Services Ltd, of Attwood Terrace, Wolsingham, Durham, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £500 in costs at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on 20 June 2024.

Alt Berg Holdings Limited, of Moor Road, Melsonby, Richmond, North Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(4) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £1,950 in costs at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on 20 June 2024.

HSE Principal Inspector Chris Tilley commented: “A suitable and sufficient asbestos refurbishment and demolition survey of the building undertaken by the client and provided to the contractor before work started would have identified the presence of asbestos in the roofing materials. The contractor could have ensured that suitable controls were put in place and the asbestos removed safely before further work was undertaken.

“This incident could so easily have been avoided by the provision of suitable and sufficient pre-construction information, effective communication between the parties and the use of correct control measures and safe working practices.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Chloe Ward and supported by HSE paralegal officer Rebecca Withell.

Notes to editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.

A company director has been fined after workers were exposed to asbestos during the demolition of a hotel in Cornwall.

Mr Paul Stephens, director of the now liquidated Stephens and Stephens Developers Limited, was fined more than £60,000 as a result of failures at the former Cliffdene Hotel in Newquay in 2020. The hotel had closed in 2018 and was part of a redevelopment plan to build residential apartments on the site.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the control of asbestos at the site came after the hotel had been almost entirely demolished in August 2020. The company had overall control over the assessment and removal of all asbestos containing materials (ACMs) on site.

However, further enquiries revealed the presence of extensive asbestos debris, a sign that significant spreading had occurred, and that those actions taken to control exposure had been inadequate. Stephens was charged for failure to take reasonably practicable steps to contain the spread of asbestos.

• The issue of asbestos more widely, and improving knowledge of the dangers, is the focus of two HSE campaigns. Guidance on asbestos safety has recently been updated and the current Asbestos: Your Duty campaign aims to improve understanding of what the legal duty to manage asbestos involves.

Paul Stephens of Bar Meadows, Malpas, Truro, Cornwall pleaded guilty to breaching regulations 16 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 by virtue of Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. He was fined £65,813 and ordered to pay costs of £26,116 at Truro Crown Court on 24 April 2024.

Speaking after the hearing HSE principal inspector Georgina Symons said: “The hotel was not in a state of disrepair and presented no structural danger, so there is no reason why the removal of ACMs could not be done ahead of its demolition.

“Identification of the hazard is key. No asbestos removal should happen if there is a risk of exposing workers to it. There needs to be a sufficient assessment as to the presence, location and condition of asbestos at all premises.

“Those tasked with undertaking the assessment should have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to undertake this work.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Matt Reynolds.

Notes to editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive(HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE has recently updated its guidance on asbestos safety and has just launched its Asbestos: Your Duty campaign that aims to improve understanding of what the legal duty to manage asbestos involves.

A company based in Kent has been fined £30,000, and its director fined £5,000, after failing to ensure the safe removal of asbestos across two separate sites.

Ironically, the firm in question was trading as ‘Asbestos Gone’.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that DOV Services Ltd, the company behind the Asbestos Gone name, had removed loose fill asbestos insulation, a licensable activity, during the renovation of a retail unit in Redhill in April 2021, despite not holding a licence granted by HSE to do so.

Between 30 March and 7 April 2021, the company also removed asbestos cement sheets from the fascia of a school gymnasium and sports hall in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex. While not licensable work, the company failed to follow a safe system of work for the removal, with little to no control measures in place to protect its own workers, or pupils and staff at the school from exposure to asbestos. Asbestos debris was found on the roofs, on top of the covered walkway around the buildings, and on the floor at the base of the gymnasium and sports hall.

As a result of the poor work, the school had to engage a licenced asbestos contractor to undertake a remedial environmental clean.

HSE has recently updated its guidance on asbestos safety and earlier this year launched its Asbestos: Your Duty campaign that aims to improve understanding of what the legal duty to manage asbestos involves.

At Southwark Crown Court on 16 April DOV Services Ltd of Bradbourne Stables, East Malling, Kent, pleaded guilty of breaching Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 8 of The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. The company was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,260.85.

Company Director David Ryce also pleaded guilty to all charges and was fined £5,000 and also ordered to pay costs of £7,260.85.

After the hearing HSE inspector Stephanie Hickford-Smith said: “It’s a sad irony that a company trading under the name of Asbestos Gone could make such a shambles of safely removing such a dangerous substance.

“DOV Services Ltd removed loose fill asbestos insulation, probably the most dangerous asbestos-containing material, from the site in Redhill, without having a licence to do so. It also put children and others, including its own workers and their families, at risk by failing to remove asbestos cement sheets from the school in Stanford-le-Hope under controlled conditions.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Samantha Wells and paralegal officer Imogen Isaac.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.

A company director has been jailed for eight months after failing to protect workers from exposure to asbestos at a student development project in Winchester.

Stephen Davies, 59, had set up Cavendish Winchester Ltd with the sole purpose of refurbishing the Winnall Close commercial unit into student rental accommodation. His co-director Neil Bolton, 56, was spared an immediate spell behind bars when he was handed a four-month suspended sentence at Southampton Crown Court on 27 March 2024. The company itself was fined £30,000 – with all three defendants pleading guilty.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed the company removed an estimated ten tonnes of asbestos insulating board (AIB) during the refurbishment in late 2019 and early 2020. The dangerous materials were stripped out by workers unqualified to do the job and unaware of the risks to their health.

• The issue of asbestos more widely, and improving knowledge of the dangers, is the focus of two HSE campaigns. Guidance on asbestos safetyhas recently been updated and the current Asbestos: Your Duty campaign aims to improve understanding of what the legal duty to manage asbestos involves.

The investigation arose when HSE received a concern that large quantities of AIB had been illegally removed. The work was all carried out under the direction of Stephen Davies.

The court was told both directors were aware of the considerable extent and quantity of the materials containing asbestos within the building, as they had previously sought legitimate quotes for its competent removal.

However, they chose to save a considerable sum of money by avoiding properly planned, safe removal, by a Licenced Asbestos Removal Contractor. They knowingly exposed workers to significant risk to their health. In addition, the investigation was unable to determine where a very sizeable quantity of asbestos-contaminated debris ended up, such that others in the waste removal chain were likely to have been put at risk too.

All three defendants pleaded guilty to charges relating to a lack of adequate management of the removal of asbestos containing materials.

Both Stephen Davies and Neil Bolton pleaded guilty to Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, by causing their company, The Cavendish Winchester Ltd, to breach Section 4(1) of the Act.

• Davies, of Petworth, West Sussex was given an immediate custodial sentence of 8 months in prison.
• Bolton, of Petworth, West Sussex was given a custodial sentence of four months, suspended for 12 month, with 250 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay costs of over £5,123.
• The Cavendish Winchester Ltd, of Newtown House, Liphook, was fined £30,000.00.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE principal inspector Steve Hull said: “We brought this case because, despite the directors of this company being put on notice of the risks involved, they put profit before the health of those they employed.

“The dangers to health associated with exposure to asbestos fibres are well known and a wealth of advice and guidance is freely available from HSE and other organisations.

“Structural refurbishment which either exposes or is liable to expose people to asbestos fibres should only be carried out by competent persons working to a strict plan of work to ensure safety. Higher risk asbestos removal, such as the removal of AIB, can only legally be carried out by Licenced Asbestos Removal Contractors who have the knowledge and equipment to prevent the spread of fibres and properly protect the workers undertaking the removal work.

“This work involved the removal of an estimated ten tonnes of AIB.

“The defendants then tried to cover their tracks by legitimising the removal of a small amount of residual asbestos containing materials, after illegally stripping out the majority, by obtaining a new quote for legal removal of that very small remaining portion. This deliberate attempt to save money, when they knew full well that the workers would have to live with the possibility of developing serious asbestos-related disease in the future, makes the case particularly serious.”

This case was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Kate Harney, who was supported by Paralegal Officer Helen Jacob

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE has recently updated its guidance on asbestos safety and has just launched its Asbestos: Your Duty campaign that aims to improve understanding of what the legal duty to manage asbestos involves.

A company director has been fined £5,000 after he falsified asbestos removal documents while his firm worked on a block of flats in Brighton.

Reliable Insulations and Fibre Control Ltd had been hired to remove asbestos at Abbotts Apartments, on King Street, when the company’s director, James Pett, created a fraudulent document claiming a 4-Stage Clearance had been completed on 26 September 2021.

A 4-Stage Clearance is required by law to ensure asbestos removal work has been completed safely.

With the asbestos removal work at the site running behind schedule, Mr Pett decided against using an independent company to check the work had been carried out safely, that the site had been properly cleaned, and it was safe to reoccupy.

Instead, he decided the falsify the 4-Stage Clearance certificate.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that 72-year-old Mr Pett had used a previous authentic test certificate to create a fraudulent document to deceive other parties into believing that the 4-Stage Clearance had been completed, allowing further maintenance work to continue in the basement.

HSE has recently updated its webpages on asbestos safety and in 2023 launched an awareness campaign, Asbestos and You, which provides tradespeople with information about how to deal with asbestos on a job, and the personal risks from asbestos that still exist across the country today. The workplace regulator has also just launched its Asbestos: Your Duty campaign that aims to improve understanding of what the legal duty to manage asbestos involves.

James Pett, of Avenue Road, Erith, Kent, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 33(1)(m) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. He was fined £5,000 at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on 18 January 2024.

HSE inspector Russell Beckett said: “This was a reckless act by the director of a company whose sole job was to safely remove asbestos. Instead, he decided to deceive to try and speed up a job.

“Companies who are licensed to remove asbestos by the HSE are fully aware of risks associated with asbestos and the need to follow all precautions necessary to make sure areas where asbestos has been removed are safe for reoccupation, and this includes a 4-stage clearance test by an independent company.

“Exposure to asbestos is responsible for over 5000 deaths every year in the UK.

“This prosecution shows that HSE will not hesitate to take action against individuals who do not do all that they should to keep people safe.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz and supported by HSE paralegal officer Stephen Parkinson.

Notes to editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.

A Hartlepool man has been handed a community order after he admitted removing asbestos from a school when he wasn’t licenced to do so.

Sean Thomas Faulkner, 55, also intentionally falsified clearance paperwork after removing asbestos containing materials from Our Lady Lourdes School in Shotton Collery in March 2021. He carried out similar work several months earlier at a domestic property on Park Road in Middlesbrough in November 2020.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently updated its guidance on asbestos safety and has just launched its Asbestos: Your Duty campaign that aims to improve understanding of what the legal duty to manage asbestos involves.

Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard that Faulkner failed to hold a licence to safely remove asbestos. He also failed to ensure a four-stage clearance was carried out on both jobs by a person accredited by an appropriate body, posing serious risk.

A HSE investigation found Faulkner had received the relevant training on how to safely remove licenced asbestos and was therefore fully aware of the legal requirement to hold a licence.

Faulkner of Berkeley Avenue, Hartlepool pleaded guilty to six charges, three charges at each offence location including contravening Regulations 8(1) and 20(3) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and breaching Section 33 (1)(m) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

He was given an 18-month community order, which consists of 15 days of rehabilitation, 90 days of monitored alcohol abstinence as well as him carrying out 150 hours of unpaid work. He will also pay costs of £1000.

HSE inspector Stuart Whitesmith said: “Asbestos related disease still kills around 5,000 workers each year in Great Britain. It can be present today in any building or industrial process plant built or refurbished before the year 2000.

“In this case Mr Faulkner intentionally falsified paperwork necessary to ensure the safety of both workers, other staff and vulnerable members of public.

“We will not hesitate to take action where individuals disregard health and safety law such as can be seen in this case.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Karen Park.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE has recently updated its guidance on asbestos safety and has just launched its Asbestos: Your Duty campaign that aims to improve understanding of what the legal duty to manage asbestos involves.