A  Bradford-on-Avon building company has been fined for exposing people to toxic asbestos fibres.

The building company has been fined after they had removed asbestos insulation board (AIB) ceiling in an unsafe manner, increasing the risk of exposure.

Chippenham Magistrate’s Court were told by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that DB Construction (West Wilts) Ltd, had carried out unsafe work whilst refurbishing a house in Bradford-on-Avon between the 29^th of November and the 10^th of December 2010.

An asbestos insulation board ceiling was removed from the premises, where work was being carried, out in an uncontrolled manner putting employees, subcontractors, homeowners and their children at risk of exposure.

The court heard how and electrician on site raised concerns about asbestos in the ceiling boards and he then arranged for the material to be analysed by a specialist before beginning work.

An analyst visited the site and advised the contractors that work should wait until after the contaminated area has been cleared of asbestos debris. The HSE later confirmed that the ceiling boards contained both and brown asbestos.

An HSE investigation found that DB Construction had failed to identify whether asbestos was present in the building before work started. Having failed to identify the material, its employees and subcontractors broke up the ceiling boards to remove them and released asbestos fibres into the air. The boards and debris were also removed in open bags and left in the garden, breaching safety rules.

Helena Tinton, an HSE inspector, spoke after the prosecution:

“Asbestos is widely known to be a hazardous material and asbestos fibre exposure is linked to a number of serious diseases, including cancer and scarring of the lungs. As such, work with materials containing higher risk asbestos, including asbestos insulation board, is a licensed activity with work only carried out by trained people under tightly controlled conditions.”

She went onto say:

“As a building contractor engaged in refurbishment work, DB Construction should have been aware of this and yet these ceiling boards were removed in an uncontrolled manner over a period of several hours, which resulted in the spread of airborne asbestos fibres inside and outside the property, leaving workers and the family at risk of exposure.”

DB Construction (West Wilts) Ltd, of Frome Road, Bradford-on-Avon, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and have been fined £7,000 with £3,617.50 in costs to pay.

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