Council Fined after School Caretaker Exposed to Asbestos
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning employers they must ensure all relevant employees are aware of the location of asbestos in the workplace after a school caretaker was exposed to hazardous dust.
A north east based local authority today pleaded guilty to five breaches of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. It was fined £17,005 and ordered to pay £3,911 costs at the local Magistrates' Court.
The HSE Inspector who investigated said:
"The local authority was found to have breached the regulations in March 2006, at a Primary School, which is owned by the council. The school caretaker swept the school boiler house on two separate occasions, unaware that it was contaminated with asbestos. This posed a huge risk to the caretaker's health: every year, 4000 people die of work-related asbestos diseases, more than are killed on the roads.
This type of incident was likely to occur sooner or later. It was foreseeable that caretakers and service engineers would require access to the boiler house for routine or emergency repairs, but no instruction, training, protective equipment, washing or disposal arrangements were in place to safeguard this vulnerable group.
