General Motors UK Limited, owner of the Vauxhall car plant in Ellesmere Port has been fined £120,000.00 by the Health & Safety Executive for an asbestos breach.
The harmful material was found in boarding panels which contaminated the North Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire site in 2014. This resulted in contractors being exposed to potentially harmful amounts of asbestos dust in the working environment.
Work had been completed by the contractors on high pressure water boilers, fitted with gas burners, present at the site’s paint unit. Investigations confirmed that suspected asbestos insulating boards or “AIBs” were located behind external cladding around the area.
The contractors employed to complete the improvement works had prepared a risk assessment and method statement for the originally planned work which involved traversing a roof.
Later, the location of the new pipework to be fitted was altered to be fitted to the side of the building, without a risk assessment for this specific job being completed. No investigations to locate asbestos were conducted in breach of current health and safety legislation.
Ultimately, sampling was carried out which showed that the refurbishment works involving the cutting of holes into the boards had resulted in AIBs being disturbed, creating the contaminated working environment.
Alarmingly, when the AIBs were identified, the asbestos register was not fully accessible to the contractor to assist them in checking whether the boards did in fact contain asbestos. Further, General Motors failed to order a stop notice on the work being completed by the contractors which could have resulted in the AIB remaining undisturbed. Asbestos is only considered harmful to health in airborne form and therefore is at its most dangers after being disturbed.
The case was heard at the Liverpool Magistrates’ Court and it was found that the car conglomerate had failed to uncover whether the work was “notifiable or licensed asbestos work.”
Thankfully, after discovery of the health and safety failing, specialist contractors were employed to complete a full clean-up and decontamination of the areas affected.
General Motors UK Ltd, whose head office is in Luton Befordshire, pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was penalised in the form of a fine of £120,000.00 with an order to pay almost £12,000.00 in costs.
Following the prosecution, HSE inspector, Jane Carroll stated:-
“Asbestos kills around 5,000 workers each year; this is more than the number killed on UK roads. Asbestos can be present within any premises built or refurbished before the year 2000. Whenever asbestos containing materials are found to be present, companies have a legal duty to document and implement an Asbestos Management Plan which includes measured to adequately control the risk of exposure to asbestos fibres.”
This case shows that asbestos exposure should not be considered to be a danger of the past, the risks are present to this day and all steps should be taken to protect those who may come into contact with this deadly dust.
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