Council fined over asbestos dust

The council admitted four charges of breaching asbestos regulations

A council which exposed 10 of its employees to asbestos dust has been fined £14,000.

City of Edinburgh Council joiners found the white dust while cutting a hole through a door that had been removed from Castlebrae Community High School.

There were about 10 members of staff in the workshop at the time, including three who were "very close", the city's sheriff court heard.

The council admitted four charges of breaching asbestos regulations.

The court was told that in February 2007 the school began a project to turn the physics room into a hairdressing salon.

Part of the project required viewing panels to be cut in the doors.

The degree of risk regarding asbestos must be regarded as very grave indeed Sheriff Isabella McColl

The doors had been taken from the school to the council joiner's workshop at Murrayburn Road to allow the work to be carried out.

A significant amount of white dust was created as two joiners cut the first of the doors using a hand-held powered saw on 3 April 2007.

It was not until halfway through cutting that one of the employees put on a mask.

Fiscal depute Sally Clark said: "When they finished cutting the hole in the first door, they were concerned about the level of white dust and opened large roller doors to allow the dust to blow out into the car park.

"During this time there were around 10 employees present in the workshop, at least three of whom were very close to the work."

A health and safety officer was called in and the workshop was closed.

Tests were carried out on the white powder, which was found to be asbestos, and the workshop had to be decontaminated.

A health and safety investigation revealed that the council's asbestos procedures said preparations for any building work must include an assessment of anything which might expose workers to asbestos.

But the inquiry found it was custom and practice for employees and contractors not to check the asbestos register on site. Instead, they waited until anything suspicious was noticed after starting work.

Improvement notice

The council admitted charges of failing to make a risk assessment prior to carrying out work, failing to prepare a written plan, breaching a duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises and failing to take measures to prevent employees being exposed to the substance.

Passing sentence, Sheriff Isabella McColl said: "The degree of risk regarding asbestos must be regarded as very grave indeed.

"It is well known to be carcinogenic and a risk for those in the building trade."

Defence agent Mark Mohammed said as soon as the incident occurred steps were taken to investigate what went wrong and to make sure it did not happen again.

He added that the council had been served with an improvement notice and had complied with its terms.

In February of this year the authority was fined £17,600 after workers were exposed to asbestos while demolishing a wall at the same school.