A proactive inspection by the HSE uncovered serious safety failings by a company that was carrying out roof repairs at a house in Croydon.
On 28 April 2009, the HSE carried out an inspection at the property after noticing that the scaffolding was poorly positioned. The inspector found that Brunwin Professional Roofing Services Ltd had been contracted to repair the property’s roof, but the job had expanded, at the owner’s request, to remove and replace rotten barge boards from the pitch roof.
In order to remove the barge boards workers also needed to detach soffits, which were holding the boards in place. So that they could create space to move the soffits they took out two scaffold boards, which left an unprotected gap between the building and the scaffold that was large enough for the two workers on site to fall through.€
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I Mike…. am very minded to agree with you. I think someone has messed up on the Asbestos prosecution side of things.
Other offenses understandable but temporary removal of asbestos-cement soffit boards? Is this not ACM “firmly linked in a matrix” and in addition taking minutes to do, is a “short non-continuous maintenance activity” so does it need to be licenced or notified? Is this prosecution not contrary to reg.3 and HSE’s own guidance (Asbestos Essentials p.3)?