A Company based in Suffolk have been fined after removing asbestos insulation board (AIB) without a licence, resulting in the failure to protect its workers from falls of up to four metres at a farm building in Waltham, Essex.
The workers were potentially exposed to harmful asbestos fibres and shockingly were only given baby wipes or access to a hose for decontamination.
Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was alerted by a member of the public concerned that unsafe work was being undertaken at the farm building.
LJW Cladding Ltd didn’t have a licence permitting it to remove asbestos, despite telling the farm owner it held the applicable license. Not one of the workers were trained to work with licensed asbestos and were also at risk of falling from height while removing the fragile asbestos boards.
LJW Cladding Ltd of Evesham Close, Ipswich, Suffolk, was fined a total of £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3365.50 plus a £120 victim surcharge after pleading guilty to separate breaches of the Work at Height Regulations and the Control of Asbestos Regulations.