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Council fined for exposing employees to asbestos dust
A council which exposed 10 employees to asbestos dust has been fined £14,000.
Joiners working for City of Edinburgh Council found white dust while cutting a hole in a door that had been removed from a school.
Three of the ten staff were very close to the door at the time, according to a report on the BBC News website.
The work was being done as part of a project to turn a physics room into a hairdressing salon.
Viewing panels were being cut in the doors, which were taken from the school to the council’s workshop.
Halfway through the job joiners became concerned at the amount of white dust and opened the workshop doors to allow it blow out into the car park.
Tests later revealed the white powder was asbestos, and the workshop was closed to be decontaminated.
The court heard that the council's asbestos procedures said preparations for any building work must include an assessment of anything which might expose workers to asbestos.
But a health and safety inquiry found it was usual practice for employees and contractors not to check the asbestos register on site.
Instead, they waited until anything suspicious was noticed after starting work.
The council admitted charges of failing to make a risk assessment; prepare a written plan; breaching a duty to manage asbestos; and failing to take measures to prevent employees being exposed.
Kershaw Contracting Services is a member of the Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA), and can advise on all aspects of asbestos surveys and removal.
