A small North East contractor has been fined after a 16-year-old worker was exposed to asbestos.
The unnamed teenager was working for P Turnbull Joinery & Building Services Ltd when exposed to the potentially cancer-causing material in June 2021, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The Wolsingham-based contractor had been hired to refurbish a property in Richmond, North Yorkshire – with the teenager breaking up cement sheets taken from an outbuilding roof, the regulator said.
However, the cement sheets, which he subsequently placed into a skip, were later found to contain asbestos.
The HSE said P Turnbull Joinery & Building Services Ltd “had not properly assessed the work and failed to prevent the worker being exposed to asbestos”.
The company pleaded pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £500 in costs at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court.
P Turnbull Joinery & Building Services’ client Alt Berg Holding Ltd was also fined for an offence relating to the asbestos exposure.
The HSE said Alt Berg Holdings “failed to carry out an asbestos refurbishment and demolition survey of the property, which would have identified the asbestos”.
The client pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(4) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. It was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £1,950 in costs at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court.
HSE principal inspector Chris Tilley said: “A suitable and sufficient asbestos refurbishment and demolition survey of the building undertaken by the client and provided to the contractor before work started would have identified the presence of asbestos in the roofing materials.
“The contractor could have ensured that suitable controls were put in place and the asbestos removed safely before further work was undertaken.
“This incident could so easily have been avoided by the provision of suitable and sufficient pre-construction information, effective communication between the parties and the use of correct control measures and safe working practices.”
