Northern Irish Trader Sentenced for Negligence Regarding During Asbestos Removal

14 Feb 2019

In an item of news that highlights the challenges still faced by asbestos abatement companies, a contractor from Portadown, Jonathan Belshaw, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to failing to comply with asbestos regulations when conducting steel removal works in 2017.

Mr Belshaw was given a fine of £6,000 and a 6 month suspended sentence after not taking the appropriate measures when friable asbestos was discovered during the works. What should have happened at the site, which was also found to contain other significant amounts of asbestos containing materials (ACMs), was a halt to proceedings so that asbestos surveys and professional asbestos removal services could be conducted.

By failing to adhere to correct asbestos disposal guidelines, Belshaw put himself and everyone in the vicinity at risk - including the two casual workers he hired for the job.

A significant Danger to Life

The sentence is seen by some as being quite lenient, given the fact that inhaling just a single asbestos particle into the lungs can have lethal consequences later in life. Mesothelioma can appear twenty or thirty years into the future, by which time, the chances of recovery are extremely low due to its particularly aggressive nature.

Asbestos related disease is a very real, significant danger to life and only by raising awareness and holding those with a duty to follow guidelines to account, can we hope to stop needless deaths occurring in the future.

If you would like to find out more about asbestos abatement or anything discussed here, you can visit our website www.ohss.ie, where you’ll also find a wealth of information about the full range of asbestos abatement and occupational hygiene services we offer.

For advice and guidance, you can call our expert team on 01 6905907. They are ready and waiting to help in any way they can.

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