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Council admits asbestos failings

Aug 24, 2007 | Staff | BBC News

A County Durham council has been ordered to pay almost £26,000 for failing to warn staff that asbestos was present in one of its leisure centres.

Wear Valley Council allowed staff to work at Bishop Auckland's Woodhouse Centre, despite being alerted to the presence of asbestos.

The council admitted six breaches of asbestos control regulations at Darlington Magistrates Court.

The case followed a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation.

The court was told the investigation followed a complaint in January 2006 by a maintenance worker, who discovered that the plant room of the council-run leisure centre, where he had worked for many years, contained asbestos.

'Necessary precautions'

The authority was fined £18,000 after admitting six offences under the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations. It was also ordered to pay £7,722 costs.

HSE inspector Richard Bishop, said: "A survey had been carried out in 2001 which identified asbestos containing materials.

"This information was not acted upon and no-one who worked in the plant room was made aware.

"As a result, work that was liable to disturb the asbestos was done without the necessary precautions required by law to protect their health from exposure.

"This case should serve as a warning, not only to local authorities, but to everyone responsible for carrying out or contracting maintenance work on buildings where asbestos may be present."

No-one from Wear Valley District Council was available for comment.

The HSE says asbestos is the single biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK.