Dallas McMillan's Blog

A laboratory testing firm has been prosecuted after putting workers at its Tyneside premises at risk of exposure to asbestos.

An investigation was launched into the activities of Exova (UK) Limited following a complaint the company had not dealt with damaged asbestos at its site despite being recommended to do so on two previous occasions.

Newcastle Magistrates' Court heard the company's own accredited asbestos testing branch carried out a survey of the premises in October 2008. Damaged asbestos was identified by this branch in two separate areas of the site and the survey stated the damaged asbestos should be removed, repaired or sealed off.

A further survey was completed in February 2010 and again stated the previously identified damaged asbestos was still there and repeated its earlier recommendation.

HSE inspector Andrew Woodhall visited the site in July 2010 and found the recommendations of the two earlier surveys had still not been implemented and employees were continuing to access and work in areas where damaged asbestos was present. He then instigated enforcement action.

The company was fined a total of £36,000 (£12,000 for each offence) and ordered to pay £8,000 costs after it pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

Asbestos-related diseases are responsible for around 4,000 deaths a year. Working on or near damaged asbestos-containing materials or breathing in high levels of asbestos fibres could increase your chances of getting an asbestos-related disease.

Donald Brydon, Chairman of Royal Mail Group, has announced the launch of an independent inquiry to be led by Sir Gordon Langley into the prevalence and consequences of attacks by dogs on postal workers in the UK, with the objective of making recommendations to address them.

There are between three and a half thousand and four thousand dog attacks on Royal Mail employees each year, resulting in injuries - many severe, - and considerable trauma. 

Despite significant organisational effort to control employee exposure, and an outstanding and ongoing campaign - Bite Back, led by the CWU - the number of attacks remains unacceptably high. The inquiry will look more widely than just at primary legislation and therefore will look beyond current proposed amendments to the Dangerous Dogs Act.

The inquiry will:

• seek to ascertain why so many employees are subject to dog attacks whilst delivering mail,
• consider the background and human consequences of continuing dog attacks on postmen and postwomen,
• consider existing relevant laws and regulations and the extent to which they are adequate and  enforced,
• consider any relevant actions taken by other employers in the UK or elsewhere, and
• make recommendations with a view to achieving a reduction in attacks.

Two former businessmen have been sentenced by an Italian court to 16 years in jail for negligence that contributed to the asbestos related deaths of over 2,000 people, reports the Scotsman.

Stephan Schmidheiny, from Switzerland, was the former owner of Swiss construction firm Eternit, and Jean Louis Marie Ghislain De Cartier De Marchienne, from Belgium, was a former executive and shareholder. They were charged with deliberately failing to implement measures to prevent damage from asbestos exposure at the firm's fibre cement making plants in Italy.

The trial began in December 2009, and since then has heard evidence linking 2,100 deaths to exposure to asbestos fibres at the plants.

The court also awarded financial compensation to over 6,300 victims or family members of people who died or became ill as a result of asbestos exposure while working at the factories.

A company and its manager have been fined after two workers were engulfed in a fireball when they cut through a live 1,000 volt electrical cable at an industrial unit in Telford.

The two men had been told to find an underground water leak at an empty industrial unit owned by the company in Telford. They were instructed to dig at a spot outside the unit. Using an electrical drill, they drilled nearly 40cm into the ground until they hit a live 1,000 volt cable.

They were engulfed in a fireball and suffered burns to their hands, arms and faces. Both were airlifted to hospital and one of the men was so seriously injured that for the first few days, doctors believed he might not survive.

HSE's investigation into the incident found that the company had not assessed the risks involved, devised a safe system of work or obtained site plans of the area, checked whether there were any electrical cables underground or used safe digging methods. The two men had also received no training about the dangers arising from underground services.

The court also heard that in issuing instructions to the two men, the company manager had a duty to take reasonable care for their safety. Despite being aware of the guidance which details how to dig safely near underground services, he failed to ensure that proper precautions had been taken before telling them to start work.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £4,420 costs. The manager pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs.

The TUC has welcomed the Löfstedt report's conclusion that the UK's health and safety laws 'are broadly right', but it has major concerns that the proposals to exempt some self-employed workers could have a devastating impact on their safety.

The comments follow the Government's announcement that it intends to begin a major cut back of health and safety regulation as early as January next year, based on recommendations that have come out of the Löfstedt Review into health and safety legislation. 

The TUC is also disappointed that the report makes no suggestions as to how the protection of employees in the workplace could be improved.

Commenting on the Government-commissioned report, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'Following last year's review by Lord Young, we've now seen yet another Government review into workplace safety that has concluded that the current system is generally fine.

'Unfortunately, like Lord Young, Professor Lofstedt was only asked to look at the 'burden' on business, not the burden that the failings in the current system have placed on the two million people whose health has been made worse because of their work. Nor has it considered the more than 20,000 people whose lives are cut short every year as a result of a preventable work-related injury or illness. Because of this, not one life will be saved as a result and not one injury or illness prevented. This is very much a missed opportunity.

'Instead the report proposes removing up to one million self-employed workers from the protection of current safety laws. These people, who often work in the most dangerous of jobs, are already much more likely to be killed or injured. There is little doubt that removing the self-employed from the regulations will increase their risk of illness and injury and lead to a rise in the number of bogus self-employed in sectors like construction."