Balfour Beatty and two of its subcontractors have been fined more than £1m after workers were exposed to asbestos while refurbishing a school in Waltham Forest.
Southwark Crown Court heard that on 24 July 2012 a worker removed part of a suspended ceiling in one of the ground floor refurbished rooms at St Mary’s school and identified suspect asbestos-containing materials.
Asbestos fibres were subsequently found in numerous areas in the school.
The court heard that the London Borough of Waltham Forest had a contract with NPS London Ltd to manage development and refurbishment of its estate.
At the time of the incident the principal contractor for the work was Mansell Construction Services (part of Balfour Beatty) and the subcontractor was Squibb Group.
An HSE investigation found that although an asbestos survey was completed, there were multiple caveats and disclaimers which were not appropriately checked.
Balfour Beatty Regional Construction Ltd (previously Mansell Construction Services Ltd) was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay costs of £32,364.84 after pleading guilty to safety breaches.
NPS London Ltd, of Norfolk, was fined £370,000 and ordered to pay £32,364.84 in costs after pleading guilty.
Squibb Group Ltd, of Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay costs of £175,000 after being found guilty after a trial.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Sarah Robinson said: “The principal contractor and contractors on site did not review the survey report in detail, and did not take into consideration the multitude of caveats.
“Therefore the work undertaken did not adopt the high standards of control expected for working where there was the potential to expose workers to asbestos.”
Elsewhere a North East-based company, Mike Neesam & Son, has been fined after a wall collapse which led to the death of 43-year-old Steven Ratcliffe.
Peterlee Magistrates’ Court heard how Radcliffe, an employee of Mike Neesam & Son, had been working on a toilet refurbishment project on Hall Hill Farm, County Durham, when he attempted to walk out of a shallow trench he was struck and crushed by a collapsing wall weighing approximately 2.2 tonnes.
Radcliffe died as result of crush injuries.
An investigation by the HSE into the circumstances of this incident found the company failed to take the appropriate measures to prevent structures from collapsing; it was found the wall in question was left unsupported at the time of the incident and put employees at risk of harm.
Mike Neesam & Son, of Coundon Industrial Estate, Bishop Auckland, pleaded guilty of breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The company has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,928.28. A victim surcharge of £120 was also ordered.
