1:43pm Thursday 7th August 2008
By James Colasanti
A LOUGHTON firm has been fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 costs for putting employees' lives at risk by failing to comply with "straight forward safety precautions" when removing potentially-deadly asbestos.
R Maskell, based at Sterling House, in Langston Road, pleaded guilty to breaching regulations under health and safety legislation and was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Wednesday, August 6.
LCH Contracts, of Great Burstead, near Billericay, also pleaded guilty to safety breaches during the work carried out at an Ipswich tower block in 2005, and was fined £70,000 with £13,821 costs.
The case has prompted the Government's workplace-welfare watchdog, the Health and Safety Executive to issue a stark warning to companies about managing the risk of exposure asbestos, which can cause chronic and painful forms of lung cancer.
Between August 15 and September 27, 2005, R Maskell carried out refurbishment work at St Francis Tower, Franciscan Way, Ipswich. The company discovered asbestos there and sub-contracted specialist asbestos removal firm LCH Contracts to clear it from the site.
A HSE spokesman said: "Our inspectors visited the site on September 27 to inspect asbestos removal work taking place.
"They became very concerned over the state of the building as there was debris on floors and in black sacks on most floors of the 15-storey tower block, and some appeared to be asbestos containing materials (ACMs). Work was then stopped in the building.
"The investigation found the building to be contaminated with ACMs and evidence was found that asbestos insulation board had not been removed following adequate safety procedures.
"Specifically, it was removed without using a wet strip technique - wetting of the product to prevent fibre release during removal."
HSE Inspector Nicola Surrey said about 1,000 building and construction workers die every year from previous exposure to asbestos.
She said: "The exposure of employees from R Maskell Ltd and LCH Contracts Ltd to asbestos could and should have been avoided by straightforward safety precautions.
"The HSE will not hesitate to take action against those who fall short of the law in such a way.”
The Guardian contacted R Maskell's planning agents, Vaughan English Associates based in Maldon, but was told management at the company were unavailable for comment.
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