Fined for asbestos breaches
A PROPERTY restoration and development company has been fined after workers and the public were exposed to asbestos in the town centre.
J Hodgson and Sons Ltd, of Carre Street, Sleaford, disturbed asbestos insulating board during refurbishment work at the former White Hart pub in Southgate between March and June 2011.
The company placed the material in an open skip close to a busy thoroughfare in the early stages of stripping out the building. A surveyor visiting the premises reported this to the Health and Safety Executive, which immediately served a Prohibition Notice stopping all work at the site until the firm employed a licensed asbestos removal company to take the material away.
At Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Monday, J Hodgson and Sons Ltd pleaded guilty to two separate breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 for failing to prevent the spread of asbestos and exposure to it. The company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,000.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Sam Russell said: “The company first put workers’ health at risk by disturbing asbestos and then that of the public by putting the insulation board in an open skip close to a busy thoroughfare between a car park and Sleaford’s main shopping area.
“Asbestos-related diseases kill more than 4,000 people a year. Asbestos is still prevalent in many buildings and has to be managed correctly. Operatives and companies must be trained to work with this potentially deadly material to make sure no-one is put at risk.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sleaford
Saturday 25 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 7 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North west
