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May/June 2023 issue

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Construction
News

Suspended jail term for supervisor who exposed workers to asbestos

Open-access content Wednesday 4th January 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Birmingham-based Asbestos Decontamination Services employee Alan Burdett was overseeing a group of operatives during a large-scale asbestos ceiling removal project at Raleigh House in Stockport.

He was filmed letting workers enter a sealed asbestos enclosure, designed to prevent airborne fibres escaping and contaminating people and the main building, even though they were not wearing facemasks or protective clothing.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also found metal frames that supported the asbestos ceiling boards stacked in the open building without being wrapped to control the spread of fibres.

Burdett pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates' Court to breaching s 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to take reasonable care for his safety and the safety of others. He was fined, ordered to pay over £3,500 in costs and sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Matt Greenly said: "Alan Burdett totally failed in his duty to protect himself and his workers from a foreseeable risk of serious harm from asbestos fibres. Although he was qualified and experienced he chose to completely ignore the risks from asbestos and in doing so has exposed several people to a risk of developing a deadly disease at some point in the future."

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©iStock/Pgiam

 Canada to ban asbestos by 2018

Thursday 5th January 2017
In a statement, government ministers of health, science and the environment said new regulations will outlaw the production, use, import and export of asbestos under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999. It will establish new rules to reduce the risk of exposure in the workplace and change building codes to prohibit asbestos use in new construction and renovation projects across the country. Science minister Kirsty Duncan said: “There is irrefutable evidence that has led us to take concrete action to ban asbestos.”
Open-access content
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 Faked testing report costs asbestos analyst £6,000

Tuesday 24th January 2017
In November 2015 Barrie Lyons had been contracted to carry out the final inspection and air testing at a construction site in Manchester, following licensed asbestos removal. The job required him to carry out a thorough examination of the area where the asbestos had been removed, and collect and evaluate air samples to ensure it was free of the dangerous fibres.
Open-access content
A member of the public photographed Mullholland balancing 27 m above street level

 Suspended jail sentence for construction worker with 'staggering disregard for personal safety'

Tuesday 3rd January 2017
Manchester Magistrates’ Court was told that David Mullholland, a 25-year-old employee of a steel erection company, was working at height during a hotel development project in Manchester. On 21 January 2015 he climbed up the scaffolding to hammer some steel beams into position.A nearby worker took the photo of Mullholland from their office window and contacted the HSE. Inspectors went to the site and questioned him.
Open-access content

 Contractor fell through unguarded floor hole

Monday 9th January 2017
The company was installing a mezzanine floor at a factory in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey when the incident occurred on 13 January 2015. The contractor was working on the floor when he stepped backwards and fell through a hole where a lift was due to be installed.
Open-access content

 Two-year jail sentence for director follows MEWP failure fatality

Tuesday 10th January 2017
The company was also fined £61,000 for failing to ensure that those using the equipment were not exposed to the risk of injury or death, for failing to maintain the equipment and for hiring the cherry picker out when it had not been certified as safe. Another company, J M Access Solutions, which had been hired to carry out statutory thorough inspections was also fined £30,000 for failing to do so.
Open-access content

 Kier fined £1.5m for PC failings that led to trench collapse

Wednesday 21st December 2016
Two subcontractors were also fined a total of £595,000 for the incident.Vincent Talbot had his leg broken in six places when the unshored trench he was working in collapsed. His right ankle was left permanently damaged, pointing 10 degrees off line. He was off work for more than a year and says he will carry out trench work again.He remained in the trench for 15 minutes after the incident in March 2012 before the fire and rescue service extracted him and airlifted him to hospital.
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