One such case in 2008 is of Acetech Construction Limited, a North Lincolnshire ship breaking company. The company didn’t conduct a satisfactory assessment for asbestos on a boat their employees were dismantling and planning to sell on as scrap. Had an adequate assessment been carried out, they could have warned employees of the existence of materials containing asbestos before work on the boat commenced. The company was fined £3,400 and was ordered to pay £5,000 in costs. They had pleaded guilty to 3 breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

A second case is of Eastern Regional Shopfitters Ltd, based in Cambridge. The company were prosecuted and fined after it emerged that they ignored a report, which highlighted that asbestos fibres were present in the shop employees were working in.

Two workers had been working for five days on taking out old shop fittings when they discovered that the ceiling panels contained asbestos. Eastern Regional Shopfitters pleaded guilty to 3 breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and were also charged with putting workers at risk as part of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They were fined £4,000 and an extra £3,215 in costs.

In the UK, asbestos is the biggest cause of work-related deaths, with roughly 4,000 workers dying from it each year. For more information about working safely with asbestos, please visit www.hse.go.uk/asbestos.

To keep safe in your workplace and to protect yourself and employees against asbestos, make sure you have respirators- they’ll protect you against fine dust particles. TheHealthAndSafetySupermarket.com offer fantastic value on all your health and safety needs!