A firm has been fined after the lack of a suitable asbestos survey saw workers remove the potentially-deadly material without dust and air monitoring equipment or breathing apparatus.

Post By: Shona Innes

A firm has been fined after the lack of a suitable asbestos survey saw workers remove the potentially-deadly material without dust and air monitoring equipment or breathing apparatus.

Breathing apparatus such as facemasks and dust monitoring equipment can be essential tools when working with industrial chemicals or dangerous substances like asbestos dust.

Fibres from asbestos insulating boards can cause potentially-fatal illnesses if inhaled and builders and members of the public should take every available precaution when entering sites where such materials may be present.

Unfortunately, not everyone follows the strict rules set out in relation to asbestos and those who put people in danger often find themselves being punished by the authorities.

One recent example of this was MJC Decorating and Refurbishing, which found itself in front of Bournemouth Crown Court after exposing employees and agency staff to dust particles.

It is also thought that members of the public may have been exposed to the potentially fatal asbestos material due to the use of normal work clothes outside of work, which would have been contaminated with asbestos fibres.

The court heard how during refurbishment of offices in Poole's Nuffield Industrial Estate, the company began removing ceilings without a suitable asbestos survey having been carried out.

To help prevent the spread of the asbestos material and risk to health, it is important that companies are properly trained to carry out the survey of the property or employ someone to carry it out for them.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector attended the site at Sentinel House and reported "widespread contamination and spread of asbestos both inside and outside the building".

Furthermore, some of the materials removed from the site and classed as non-hazardous waste may have contained fibres - potentially exposing others to the danger.

Equipment which may have been used in aiding the detection of asbestos is the CEL-712 Microdust Pro from Casella.  This instrument is ideal for the real-time detection of airborne dusts, fumes and aerosols and if used may have indicated how dangerous the asbestos in the building actually was.

Employees could have been further protected with the use of an appropriate facemask.  The HSE recommend that respirator protection suitable for working with asbestos includes FFP3 (EN149) for a disposable facemask, P3 filter (EN140) for a half mask and a P3 filter (EN405) for a semi-disposable respirator.

Frontline Safety has a range of full facemasks, half masks and also disposable masks.  The Drager X-Plore 3300 Mask Chemical Workset comes with ABEK1HgP3 R D filters which protects in applications which include organic gases and vapours and also particles (class 3).

The Surrey-based firm pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and was fined £45,000 and ordered to pay costs of £36,943.

HSE inspector Helena Tinton explained that the incident was "very serious" and could have a massive impact on people's health.  Exposure to asbestos fibres and asbestos-containing materials can cause illnesses and lung diseases such as Mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma has recently made the news after new legislation was brought in to provide sufferers of the disease with payment where they have no liable employer or insurer.

"MJC's safety failings led to the needless exposure to dangerous asbestos fibres of its employees, agency staff and the wider public," said Ms Tinton.

"The firm didn't carry out a suitable survey for asbestos material before the work started and failed to provide protection for workers on site."

Asbestos was mainly used as an insulating material in the building trade, but was also commonly utilised in the manufacture of fire blankets. There is a comprehensive guide to dealing with it on the HSE website.

Written by Chris Malone