Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Manchester and Salford Court House, heard how, on 19 November 2015, Mr Barrie Lyons, a well-trained asbestos analyst with 29 years of experience, was contracted to carry out the final inspection and air testing, following asbestos removal at a construction site in central Manchester.
Mr Lyons’ task included a thorough examination of the area where asbestos had been removed from, within the defined enclosure itself and the areas surrounding it. He also had a series of air samples to collect and evaluate, to ensure that the air was substantially free of asbestos.
“This deliberate act increased the risk of numerous people potentially being exposed to asbestos, a risk Mr Lyons would be very well aware of from his experience, all to save a little time and finish the job early.
“It is hoped that the industry uses this case as a reminder that anyone involved in asbestos removal must do everything reasonable to protect people from a material which causes around 4000 deaths per year in the UK.”
Mr Barrie Lyons, of Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £2000 and ordered to pay costs of £3905.73
Update:
Many readers had questions concerning this case that were put to the HSE inspector by SHP. The answers are below.
Was this a one off incident or was he a serial ‘falsifier’?
Mr Lyons had no previous history of falsifying documents that could be found or any HSE intervention against him as an individual.
So if you are procuring asbestos services and the surveyor has a great deal of experience and qualifications how do you know that they are actually doing what you pay them to do? Do you rely on the employer doing random spot checks and re-surveying to pick this up?
Asbestos surveyors and their companies are highly trained to standards laid down by the British Occupational Hygiene Society and UKAS and also have to work to the standards laid out in HSE guidance HSG264 which details how to assess the competency of asbestos surveyors in section 2. HSE would not expect someone to randomly resurvey a site/building in order to check the competence of the first surveyor. We would expect any prospective customer to satisfy themselves that their chosen surveyor is suitably qualified as we would anyone employing a specialist contractor, competence should always be established so far as is reasonably practicable. If a survey company can demonstrate accreditation to UKAS, BOHS or similar then they should be competent to do a thorough job.
Does an asbestos surveyor employed by a company even require a licence to operate?
Asbestos surveyors do not require a licence to operate as the action of sampling for asbestos is classed as low intensity and sporadic work. (see HSG264, paragraph 16)
Was his license revoked?
Mr Lyons never had or needed an asbestos license so nothing has been or can be revoked. He is now working for another company as an asbestos analyst who are fully aware of this case.
This is an interesting case and a sentence that, fortunately for My Lyons, seems to be more lenient than expected under the sentencing guidelines. Culpability would have been assessed as very high because this appears to have been accepted to have been an intentional breach or flagrant disregard for the law. The harm category would have been at least 3 (low likelihood of death) but then because multiple people were exposed to the risk, the Judge was obliged to consider moving up to harm category 2 or moving up within the category range. Even with credit for a guilty plea, this would have resulted in a jail sentence rather than a fine.
The fact that Mr Lyons escaped a jail term suggests that the Judge regarded the sentencing guidelines as being disproportionately harsh. He may well be right but the next defendant in another court may be less fortunate.
Was his license revoked?
Hello and thanks for the comment. I will contact the inspector in charge of the case tomorrow and find out if more details on the case can be made available.
Many thanks,
Lauren Applebey
This article is on the HSE website and has appeared on numerous other reporting websites. However there is no mention of why he did it, how it came to light, who his employer was and whether any prosecution has been made against them (unless it hasn’t come to Court yet). These are all the questions I have from this article.
Was this a one off incident or was he a serial ‘falsifier’??
So if you are procuring asbestos services and the surveyor has a great deal of experience and qualifications how do you know that they are actually doing what you pay them to do? Do you rely on the employer doing random spot checks and re-surveying to pick this up?
Not SHP’s fault, but I’ve got more questions than the report gives answers to!
Hello and thanks for the comment. I will contact the inspector in charge of the case tomorrow and find out if more details on the case can be made available.
Many thanks,
Lauren Applebey
Excellent points and exactly my thoughts. Does an asbestos surveyor employed by a company even require a licence to operate?
1. He did because he want to finish work earlier.
2. Why the company deserve a prosecution?
3. The article gives all the answers you need to know.
Although this report has disappeared off the main page there has still been no update as promised by Lauren, which is disappointing?
Hello,
I will try and contact the HSE again today.
Many thanks,
Lauren
Please see answers below.
Answers given by the inspector are as follows:
Was this a one off incident or was he a serial ‘falsifier’??
Mr Lyons had no previous history of falsifying documents that could be found or any HSE intervention against him as an individual.
So if you are procuring asbestos services and the surveyor has a great deal of experience and qualifications how do you know that they are actually doing what you pay them to do? Do you rely on the employer doing random spot checks and re-surveying to pick this up?
Asbestos surveyors and their companies are highly trained to standards laid down by the British Occupational Hygiene Society and UKAS and also have to work to the standards laid out in HSE guidance HSG264 which details how to assess the competency of asbestos surveyors in section 2. HSE would not expect someone to randomly resurvey a site/building in order to check the competence of the first surveyor. We would expect any prospective customer to satisfy themselves that their chosen surveyor is suitably qualified as we would anyone employing a specialist contractor, competence should always be established so far as is reasonably practicable. If a survey company can demonstrate accreditation to UKAS, BOHS or similar then they should be competent to do a thorough job.
Does an asbestos surveyor employed by a company even require a licence to operate?
Asbestos surveyors do not require a licence to operate as the action of sampling for asbestos is classed as low intensity and sporadic work. (see HSG264, paragraph 16)
Was his license revoked?
Mr Lyons never had or needed an asbestos license so nothing has been or can be revoked. He is now working for another company as an asbestos analyst who are fully aware of this case.
Thank you Lauren for the update.
Interesting that the asbestos analyst does not require a licence to operate because sampling is classed as low intensity and sporadic work – does not make any sense to me. The analyst’s work may be low risk for him personally, however the work of sampling for ACMs surely could not be regarded as low risk to others. The HSE were quick to support the health and safety practitioners register (OSHCR) which has become a predictable white elephant – talk about double standards!
It’s a shame this article has dropped off the main page as I suspect others would be interested in your follow up.
Good point well made Ray.
Thanks for the update Lauren, much appreciated.