Asbestos exposure: prison sentence
Health and Safety Executive v Brian Roberts (2015) Llandudno magistrates’ court, June 12
Brian Roberts, a builder, has been sentenced to imprisonment for exposing workers to asbestos.
Significant points of the case
Roberts was engaged to remove asbestos from a commercial unit on an industrial estate in Colwyn Bay.
He removed asbestos insulating board (AIB) from the unit despite not holding a licence to work with this material.
The HSE was alerted to the unlicensed work by a licensed contractor.
Roberts and three men working with him were exposed to potentially deadly asbestos fibres.
Roberts received a 26 weeks custodial sentence for a breach of regulation 8(1), Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, for undertaking work with asbestos without a licence.
An HSE inspector is reported to have made the following comments after the case:
Asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK. Its safe removal requires a high level of skill and technical knowledge.
The outcome of the exposure in this case could not easily be assessed. Those involved now have to live with the fear of becoming ill with life-threatening lung disease.