Also fined was the project client, a knitwear company, which must pay out £40,000.
Corgi Hosiery Ltd had contracted Dragon Cladding Ltd to remove an asbestos cement sheet roof at its premises in New Road, Ammanford, Carmarthenshire
Having received a complaint about the work, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site on the 22 October 2008 and found that roofers had removed the asbestos sheets from the roof, but they had also removed plaster-like material from the underside of the sheets and structural steelwork. HSE inspectors stopped the work immediately and tests confirmed the plaster-like material contained asbestos.
On further investigation it was found that Dragon Cladding’s site foreman Stuart Phillips, 27, had instructed two workers to use a hammer and chisel to remove the plaster-like material from the building steelwork.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard that no effort was made to establish what this material was before work started, and the debris was swept into domestic black bin bags and placed in open skips.
Throughout the duration of the work, Corgi Hosiery employees had continuous access to the main building, with one worker based in the area throughout the works. Visitors to the premises were not excluded from the works area and were also potentially exposed to asbestos.
Mr Phillips, of Llangadog in Carmarthenshire, was found to have failed to adequately assess the risks, plan the work and implement a safe system of work. He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was fined a total of £4,000 for breaching Regulations 11 (1) (a) and 16 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2006 (£2,000 per regulation), by virtue of Section 37 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
Corgi Hosiery Ltd, of Ammanford in Carmarthenshire, was found guilty of failing to prevent exposure of its employees to asbestos at an earlier hearing and was fined £25,000 for breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2006, with £15,000 costs.
HSE inspector Anne Marie Orrells said: "Nowadays, the risks of exposure to asbestos are well known so this serious incident was inexcusable. Had Mr Phillips adequately assessed the risks prior to the start of the work, it would have been apparent that the work should have been carried out by an asbestos-licensed contractor, under controlled conditions.
"Corgi Hosiery Limited should have ensured measures were taken to exclude employees and visitors from the area while the roof work was being carried out overhead. As a result of these failings both workers and visitors to their premises were exposed to potentially deadly asbestos-containing materials."
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