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Last Updated on 18th September 2019 by
An Asbestos Surveyor and a property management consultancy have both been taken to court and fined more than £15,000 after they provided a majorly inadequate refurbishment and demolition asbestos survey.
The company employed to conduct the asbestos survey, Home Inspectors Southern, failed to identify chrysotile and amosite asbestos.
Asbestos was present in both cement and insulating board.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an investigation and discovered that the Asbestos Surveyor who carried out the asbestos survey wasn’t actually trained in asbestos surveying.
He also had no previous experience with a qualified person or accredited organisation.
The Asbestos Surveyor incorrectly suggested in the asbestos survey that the large quantities of asbestos within the building could be removed by a a non-licensed contractor.
As part of their investigation, the HSE also discovered that Vital Property Solutions, the company who had employed the surveying company for the job, hadn’t checked the credentials of Home Inspectors Southern to see if they were capable and had the necessary qualifications and experience in asbestos surveying.
After the case was heard at Dudley Magistrates Court, Vital Property Solutions received a fine of £8,400 after pleading guilty to breaching s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Also pleading guilty to the same offence was Home Inspectors Southern.
They received a fine of £4,800.
Each company were ordered to pay additional costs of £930.
Speaking after the hearing, Edward Fryer, HSE inspector said, “Asbestos surveyors have a duty of care to those persons who use the information they provide. The survey missed a significant amount of asbestos contaminated materials (ACMs) thus increasing the risk to workers, who would be disturbing the fabric of the building during the refurbishment/demolition project.”
“The risk arises from workers unknowingly working on ACM and not taking effective precautions to prevent exposure and spread of asbestos fibers.”
Source of article:- https://www.ioshmagazine.com/article/untrained-asbestos-surveyor-missed-chrysotile-and-amosite
Did you enjoy reading our article on Amosite and Chysotile missed by inexperienced Asbestos Surveyor? Then check out our latest posts below.Duty holders and employers have a legal responsibility to manage asbestos in their properties, carrying out an asbestos survey in their building so as not to put employees at risk.
So make sure you contact our Armco office to arrange an asbestos refurbishment survey, before it’s too late!
Whether you need an asbestos management survey, or a refurbishment/ demolition survey, contact us on 0161 763 3727 or by visiting https://www.armco.org.uk/
Finally, for all your asbestos training needs call 0161 761 4424 or visit https://www.armcoasbestostraining.co.uk/to book an asbestos awareness training course.
Published Oct 17, 2018
