CLC was refurbishing three student blocks at the College of St Mark and St John in Plymouth in May 2009. It had agreed with a specialist asbestos removal firm that its own team would work simultaneously in parts of the building already cleared by the asbestos removal workers.
However, the CLC builders began work in an area of the building which had not been cleared of asbestos. Four employees were exposed to fibres and had to go through a specialist decontamination process.
CLC Contractors Ltd of Vincent Avenue, Shirley, Southampton pleaded guilty to exposing four employees to asbestos under Regulation 11 (1) (a) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(1)(a) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. It was fined £5,000 for each charge by Plymouth magistrates on 18 April
HSE inspector Barry Trudgian said: “This incident could have been avoided if an adequate risk assessment had been made before the work started and communicated clearly to the workforce. Exposure to asbestos can have serious long-term consequences for your health and precautions must be taken to minimise any risks when working on buildings."
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