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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted and fined a demolition firm based in Yorkshire after a worrying health and safety issue came to light.
Libra Demolition Ltd was fined after HSE inspectors found that a number of buildings known to contain asbestos were demolished without the health and safety regulatory body being informed.
As part of health and safety rules, the removal of asbestos should be carried out by a licenced specialist contractor and declared to the HSE. However, the HSE insisted that no records for the safe disposal or removal of the material were ever produced.
This discovery came to light when some debris from the site – located at the former Vesuvius works in Worksop, Nottinghamshire was found at an unlicensed Retford waste disposal site.
Prosecuting alongside the Environment Agency, the HSE fined Libra Demolition Ltd £1,500 and ordered the company to pay legal costs of £10,000. The charge in this case was a breach of Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, which those with demolition industry health and safety training should have been aware of.
Commenting on the case, HSE inspector Kevin Wilson said:

“The dangers of asbestos are well known and contractors should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take enforcement action against any firm that ignores the law in this way.”