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Potentially deadly asbestos fibres were spread in part of a shop by unqualified workmen and left on the premises for three weeks.

In a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Cardiff Magistrates yesterday heard that Timberwise (UK) Ltd, a national company specialising in damp and timber repairs, committed four offences and was fined a total of £18,000 and ordered to pay £5,314 in costs.

The court was told that Timberwise was contracted to carry out the work in an antiques shop at in High Street, Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan in July, 2011.

Timberwise sent employees to work on the site to survey and strip out parts of the building affected by damp and wood rot, without checking for the presence of asbestos.

None of the workers had received sufficient information, instruction or training in asbestos awareness or removal and Timberwise did not have a license to remove or handle asbestos containing materials.

Asbestos insulation boards were removed in a back room by one of the workers and the ceiling was demolished. The uncontrolled removal of the asbestos boards and demolition work caused the disturbance and spread of potentially deadly asbestos fibres.

Instead of arranging for the proper disposal of the asbestos, the dust was swept into rubble bags and dumped in a skip lorry, along with the asbestos insulation boards. The asbestos material was immediately identified at the waste transfer site and were collected by Timberwise and left in the backyard of the shop.

The owners of the building contacted the HSE and then arranged for a licensed removal company to undertake a full environmental clean of the building.

HSE Inspector, Steve Richardson, speaking after the case, said: "This incident was entirely preventable and would not have happened if Timberwise had provided adequate information, instruction and training to its staff.

"The company had no procedures to check for the presence of asbestos and as a result, has put the health of its workers and the shopowners at risk of potentially fatal asbestos-related lung diseases."

Timberwise (UK) Ltd, of Drake Mews, Gadbrook Park, Rudheath, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to four offences under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and was fined the following amounts:

- Section 5 (duty to identify the presence of asbestos) £4,500
- Section 8 (work with a licensed asbestos material) £4,500
- Section 10 (duty to provide information, instruction and training) £4,500
- Section 16 (duty to prevent of reduce the spread of asbestos) £4,500

Further information on the safe identification and removal of asbestos can be found on the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to prevent death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. - Regulation 5 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states: that an employer shall not undertake work in demolition, maintenance, or any other work which exposes or is liable to expose his employees to asbestos in respect of any premises unless he has either carried out a suitable and sufficient assessment as to whether asbestos is present (or liable to be present) in those premises (and if so, what type of asbestos, in what material it is present and in what condition it is in), or the employer can assume that it is present and observes the rest of the regulations accordingly.
   
   - Regulation 8 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 prohibits an employer from undertaking any work with licensed asbestos-containing materials unless he holds a licence granted by the Health and Safety Executive to do such work
   
   - Regulation 10 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states: that every employer shall ensure that adequate information, instruction and training is given to employees who are (or are liable to be) exposed to asbestos, including their supervisors, so that they are made aware of the properties of asbestos, can carry out their work effectively, and should be provided at regular intervals in a manner appropriate to the nature and degree of exposure identified by the risk assessment.
   
   - Regulation 16 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 states: that every employer shall prevent, or where this is not reasonably practicable, reduce to the lowest level reasonably practicable the spread of asbestos from any place where work under his control is carried out.
3. HSE news releases are available at www.hse.gov.uk/press

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