Advice from City Environmental Services ignored

08 Dec 2009

A company has been fined for failing to carry out proper risk assessments for the presence of asbestos before a major office refurbishment in Merthyr Tydfil.

Employees and contractors were put at risk when work started on the refurbishment without an asbestos survey.

Waxport Ltd of Mottingham Road, Edmonton, London pleaded guilty to breaches of Regulation 4(8) and 4(9) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates' Court yesterday. They were fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,416.43.

The company, which owned Oldway House, an office block in the centre of Merthyr Tydfil, had previously been issued with advice from a licensed asbestos contractor advising them complete an asbestos survey before carrying out major refurbishment work in the building in April 2007.

Waxport Ltd commissioned another company to carry out the refurbishment work, and advised them that asbestos was no longer present or had been encapsulated in the building. As a result, work commenced and asbestos was disturbed with work only stopping when a site worker identified the substance.