The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted City of Lincoln County Council and its contractor after a family was left exposed to potentially hazardous asbestos fibres for three days.

The HSE investigation found that the council and County Waste (Lincs) Ltd had allowed asbestos insulation boards to be removed incorrectly.

In June 2008,  the council was refurbishing the bathroom of a property in Winn Street in Lincoln and contracted County Waste (Lincs) Ltd to investigate how asbestos insulation boards has been fitted, with a view to removing them.  However, County Waste (Lincs) Ltd was not licensed to work with asbestos.

The employee carrying out the work lacked sufficient information or training about the hazards from exposure to asbestos – and prised off the asbestos panels with a crowbar, breaking them in the process, before putting the pieces in a sack to transport to a yard for disposal.

He left broken panels and pieces of asbestos debris on the bathroom floor of the property walked around for the rest of the day in clothing that may have been contaminated with asbestos fibres.

After the tenant complained to the council, employees visited the property to inspect the damage. However, they failed to tell the tenant there was a problem and did not move the family to another property for three days.

On Thursday (03/06/10) at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court, City of Lincoln Council was fined £10,000 and County Waste (Lincs) Ltd, of Exchange Road, Lincoln, was fined £4,250 and ordered to pay costs of £12,000 and £6,000 respectively, after pleading guilty to breaches of health and safety legislation.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Martin Giles said that the council had failed to protect its tenants and ensure that they were not exposed to risks to their health following the release of asbestos fibres.

‘Not informing the family about the seriousness of the problem and leaving them in the property for three days before rehousing them was an irresponsible and unacceptable act for a landlord,’ said Mr Giles.

‘The council failed to ensure the contractor was competent to carry out the work and had no procedures in place to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to its employees.

‘Because County Waste (Lincs) Ltd failed to provide adequate information, instruction and training to ensure employees liable to be exposed to asbestos were able to safeguard themselves and others, it did nothing to prevent the spread of asbestos from the bathroom and removed the material from the property without being in an appropriately sealed receptacle or wrapping.

‘Asbestos is a hidden killer and the HSE has a wealth of information on its website to help employers manage the risks of working with the material. There is no excuse for ignorance when dealing with people’s lives,’ Mr Giles added.

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