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April 8, 2014

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London hostel hit with fine for breaching asbestos regulations

 

A company that failed to comply with health and safety regulations regarding the removal of asbestos from a hostel it owned in Queensbury Place, SW7, landed a £39,000 fine at Isleworth Crown Court on 7 April. 
 
The company, Drewhaven Limited, was also ordered to pay the prosecuting council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s costs of £12,299.75 and a victim surcharge of £120.
 
Drewhaven Limited had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to one charge under regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and one charge under section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and a further charge under section 3 (1) of the same act.
 
Yesterday, Isleworth Crown Court heard that an environmental health officer (EHO) from the council had visited the hostel in 2010 and judged it to be in poor condition with no health and safety systems in place and lacking an asbestos survey.
 
A list of works and an enforcement notice was issued to Drewhaven Limited, which included the instruction to commission an asbestos survey of the property. A survey was carried out and this identified materials that contained asbestos and gave some guidance on how to manage them safely.
 
An EHO inspected the hostel again 18 months later, in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games, in an attempt to ensure low-performing hotels were meeting health and safety standards. The EHO asked about the asbestos containing materials and was told that they had been removed. When the inspecting officer asked to see the paperwork, he was told that there was none available.
 
A subsequent inspection revealed that fireplace panels, which had contained asbestos, had been removed by an unlicensed contractor without the proper controls to ensure the safety of the contractor, guests and employees put in place.
 
EHOs from the local authority uncovered evidence of asbestos containing debris and dust in six rooms. Drewhaven Limited was immediately served with notices that prohibited the use of the rooms until a licensed contractor could decontaminate them. 
 
The owner acted on the notices and once work was completed, permission was given for the rooms to be used again.
 
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea launched an investigation to determine who was responsible for the breaches of the regulations.
 
Isleworth Crown Court heard that Drewhaven Limited had attended interviews at the council’s environmental health department voluntarily and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
 
Even so, Judge Zoe Smith pointed out that there had been a high degree of negligence, which meant that guests were put at significant risk for eight weeks. 
 
According to the Health and Safety Executive, asbestos-related diseases account for more than 4,500 deaths per year. 
 

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