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Published on 12 Jan 2006 at 11:39

South Gloucestershire Council was last month handed a £25,000 fine after it allowed an unlicensed contractor to disturb brown asbestos in school buildings. The fine was small compared to the estimated £300,000 clean-up bill.

Both the council and contractor David Moore, trading as Ashcroft Services, were charged under the Health and Safety Act 1974 with failing to ensure the health and safety of both their own employees people not employed by them (i.e. contractors).

David Moore was fined a total of £11,250.

Failure to manage the incident, which resulted in low-level asbestos contamination, was caused when the council’s appointed contractor, Ashcroft Services, removed a number of suspended ceiling tiles from a school building which were known to contain brown asbestos.

Ashcroft Services, who undertook the work during a weekend when council officers were not present, were not licensed to remove material containing brown asbestos and their method of removal resulted in the disturbance of a small quantity of asbestos.

The council, on becoming aware of the potential contamination, moved swiftly by commissioning an immediate clean-up operation by a specialist contractor and the subsequent replacement of school furniture.

The removal works were part of a maintenance programme at Hanham School that took place during the school summer holiday. No schoolchildren were put at risk of any harm from the incident.

In mitigation, Counsel for South Gloucestershire, Peter Blair, said that the contractor appointed had extensive, legitimate experience with other asbestos materials, and was informed about the material in the ceiling tiles before work started. Unfortunately they did not hold a licence for working with this particular material.

Since the incident, management procedures within the council have been tightened to prevent any repetition.