Building Consultants Fined After Asbestos Exposure

3 Oct 2016

Back in January of this year, a Belfast based business, the Watts Group was fined £30,000 plus additional costs after two construction workers were exposed to asbestos. The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland conducted an investigation into the incident.

Seamus Kelly and Alan Tweed were exposed to asbestos when they replaced doors in the service ducts underneath Holywell Hospital.

Watts was held responsible for the exposure because they were the project managers that were responsible for removing asbestos from the service ducts. Watts was also responsible for conducting asbestos surveys on the underground service ducts.

The problem seems to be with the survey that Watts conducted. Watts had developed a site plan showing areas that contained asbestos, as well as areas where it had been removed. Watts handed these plans off to subcontractors who were to replace the doors in the ducts and make any other repairs that were needed.

Watt’s survey fell far below the standard for conducting an asbestos survey. In addition to this, asbestos in poor condition was found in many areas that were shown as having no asbestos in the site map.

HSENI inspector Jonathan Knox is quoted as saying, ““This case should act as a reminder to advisors and surveyors involved in construction projects that measures must be taken, prior to the start of any works, to ensure that the correct type of asbestos survey is completed and carried out with patience, in a thorough and systematic manner.”

Those in the construction industry depend on proper asbestos surveying to keep them safe from asbestos exposure. When the survey isn’t handled properly, it can cause many challenges and problems.

At OHSS, we offer quality asbestos surveying services for residential and commercial properties.

Our staff is accredited to ISO17020 and ISO17025 standards, employing high quality methods for thorough asbestos surveys. Our team is dedicated to delivering superior services that ensure the health and safety of your property and the occupants within. 

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