Armco Asbestos Surveys
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Armco Asbestos Surveys
Last Updated on 22nd April 2021 by Marketing
The retail firm B&M Retail Ltd has been fined for breaching health and safety regulation regarding asbestos in their shop unit in Dalkeith.
The incident took place in store on January 23rd 2010 when smoke began to come out of a light fitting. The store manager went on to smash a ceiling tile to gain access to the light fitting to investigate the smoke before calling an electrician to rectify the problem. It is part of legislation that only trained individuals should deal with asbestos to make sure it they take the necessary precautions to ensure the substance does not become harmful to the surroundings.
The store was inspected by the Midlothian council in 2011 and it was confirmed that the ceiling contained asbestos. Upon inspection a quarter of the broken tile remained on the ceiling and debris from the tile was still on the floor.
When disturbed, as it was in this case, asbestos releases deadly fibres into the air which when inhaled can lead to the asbestos related diseases like Mesothelioma. This could have lead to employees and customers being exposed to asbestos.
The firm pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff court to failure to prevent their employees from exposure to asbestos and were fined £5300.
A subsequent investigation by Midlothian Council found that firm did not have a sufficient asbestos management survey.
According to regulations all companies that have a duty to employees in a building built before the year 2000 must assume the building contains asbestos and carry out an asbestos management survey to locate the asbestos and make sure it is not at risk of being disturbed.
The council served an improvement notice to the firm which required the downfalls in the plans and management survey to be improved and resolved.
At Armco we offer both asbestos management and refurbishment/ demolition surveys. You can call 0161 763 3727 or visit https://www.armco.org.uk/ for information about, or to book you asbestos management or refurbishment/demolition survey today.
We also have a range of comprehensive training courses including asbestos awareness training, working with non-licensed asbestos training and face fit training.
Visit https://www.armcoasbestostraining.co.uk/ or call 0161 761 4424 for enquiries to book a course.
Published Feb 10, 2015
