Asbestos Removal Company Fined £109,000.00

An Asbestos Removal Company, Angus Group Limited based in Paisley have been fined £109,000.00 for exposing their employees to asbestos fibres whilst they demolished an old school building.

Ermine Infant School in Lincoln was scheduled to be demolished in March 2012. Angus Group Limited failed to follow the correct safety procedures and Lincoln Magistrates Court held that they had breached 8 of the control of asbestos regulations 2006 thereby exposing their workers to the dangerous asbestos fibres.

Surveys revealed that the main hall of the school was covered in an asbestos coating that had been spray applied and therefore, should only have been demolished using the strict controls and safety procedures in place.

Angus Group Limited ignored the recommendations and safety procedures and simply chiselled off the asbestos coating using electrical tools without any air extraction system or breathing equipment thereby exposing their employees to the dangerous fibres that were liberated into the atmosphere.

It transpired that the broken asbestos material was simply bagged up and taken to a nearby skip. The investigations revealed that many samples taken from the school proved positive for asbestos.

HSE Inspector Martin Giles said: “Angus Group Limited is an experienced licenced contractor, and was fully aware of all of the hazards and its responsibility to ensure safety at all times. It is deplorable that a company that does know better failed to properly manage the dangers of this hidden killer.”

It is very sad to see that certain companies are still adopting a reckless attitude towards the safety of employees when it comes to asbestos even in todays’ day and age!

Following on from my previous blog “Dilemma over Home Birth Plans – but will Hospitals have Capacity?” it appears that the midwife shortage stems further than just Norfolk.

Two further maternity units have temporarily closed until June 2014. The further closures affect women booked to give birth at both Harwich and Clacton Community Hospitals. As a result of the temporary closure, women will be offered the choice of a home birth or delivery at Colchester General Hospital. This decision has been made due to the low number of midwives at Colchester Hospital in relation to the high number of births there. It is accepted by the Department of Health that the ideal ratio should be one midwife for every 29 births in a year. However, at Colchester the ratio was 1 midwife for every 39 births. At Clacton, the ratio was 1:18 and at Harwich it was 1:14. It is hoped that the temporary closure will take the ratio at Colchester General Hospital to 1:30 and that this will come down further after Colchester General Hospital has recruited extra midwives that the Trust is going to fund.

For those women affected, they will have to make the decision about whether they want to proceed with a delivery at Colchester General Hospital or a home birth. However, statistics from home birth midwives in North America reveal the death rate is 450% higher than Hospital births. So does this really leave you with much of a choice? Women need to have adequate information to make an informed decision about what is best for them and their unborn baby.