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Council exposes contractors to asbestos
Waltham Forest borough council has been fined £66,000
after it exposed members of staff and visiting contractors to the
potentially lethal dangers of asbestos, which it knew to be present
in the Town Hall basement.
Asbestos was identified in a survey commissioned by the council
in 2002, yet it failed to take adequate action to act on the
findings and put effective controls in place.
As a result employees and visiting contractors were allowed to
carry on working in the basement regardless of the dangers for the
next ten years.
Westminster Magistrates heard that the issue only became public
by chance in mid-2012 when a local resident put in a request to the
council to see some election expenses documentation.
The authority denied the request with the reason that the
paperwork was contaminated with asbestos.
As a result, the resident approached the Health and Safety
Executive's 'Mythbuster Challenge Panel', which in turn referred
the concern to HSE inspectors in north east London to investigate
further.
The court heard that Waltham Forest had no plan in place for
managing the well-known risks of asbestos and there was an
inadequate system in place for inspecting asbestos at the Town
Hall.
Waltham Forest Borough Council was fined a total of £66,000 and
ordered to pay £16,862 in costs after pleading guilty to safety
breaches.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Chris Tilley said: "Waltham
Forest was aware of the asbestos in the basement as far back as
1984. It was also aware of the risks from asbestos exposure and of
its duty to manage those risks.
"Asbestos-related disease has a long latency and it is
impossible to ascertain what injury may have been caused in this
case.
"But asbestos is a known and powerful carcinogen and owners or
managers of non-domestic premises, such as councils, have a legal
duty to manage the material in their buildings and have measures
and controls in place to protect workers and the public from being
exposed."
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