Companies fined after workers exposed to asbestos

Two businesses and a company director have been fined after workers in Manchester were exposed to potentially deadly asbestos fibres.

The prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) comes just days before the launch of a national £1.2 million campaign to increase awareness about asbestos among tradespeople.

Recon Packaging Ltd, of Ashton-under-Lyne, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(3) of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 at Trafford Magistrates Court on Tuesday 27 October 2009. It was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.

Industrial & Commercial Building Services Ltd (ICBS) of Greek Street, Stockport and its Managing Director, Kevin Bennett, of Marple, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and Regulation 3(1) of the Asbestos Licensing Regulations 1983. They were each fined £2,000.

The court heard that ICBS employees came into contact with asbestos while demolishing part of the Recon Packaging recycling plant on Bower Street in Miles Platting in early 2006.

Recon Packaging hired ICBS to carry out the work after the plant was severely damaged by fire in May 2005. The building included substantial amounts of asbestos but no site assessment was carried out, and ICBS was not licensed to remove it.
HSE decided to prosecute after Inspector Stuart Kitchingman visited the site on 13 April 2006.

Around 4,000 people die every year from diseases linked to asbestos, making it the biggest single cause of work-related deaths in Great Britain. More people die as a result of being exposed to asbestos than in road accidents.

Asbestos was regularly used as a building material in the UK from the 1950s onwards, and any building constructed before 2000 may contain it. Asbestos materials left undisturbed are safe but can release dangerous fibres when they are disturbed, causing serious diseases if breathed in.

Find out more about Asbestos