Caretaker exposed to asbestos

Sep 6 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

ANORTH council was ordered to pay more than £20,000 yesterday after it emerged a school caretaker had been exposed to 100 times the safe level of asbestos.

Health and Safety Executive inspectors brought the case against North Tyneside Council following incidents at Wallsend Jubilee School in March 2006.

The council pleaded guilty to five breaches of asbestos regulations at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court yesterday, but said it had spent £500,000 on a comprehensive review of health and safety since the incident.

It was the second time Wallsend Jubilee School had been at the centre of an asbestos row.

In February 2007, The Journal revealed contractors working at the school had been exposed to the deadly substance in 2002, but the public was not informed until five years later. North Tyneside Council last night moved to reassure parents that asbestos no longer posed at risk at Jubilee or any of their schools.

During yesterday’s hearing, it was revealed the school’s boilerhouse had been quarantined for asbestos six months before caretaker Richard Brand realised he had been exposed, but no warning signs were put up. There was also no asbestos risk management plan in place.

HSE Inspector Dr Stephen Britton said employers had a duty to ensure that any asbestos in premises was managed properly and to warn anybody likely to come into contact with it.

He said: “The school caretaker swept the school boiler house on two separate occasions on March 13 and March 20 2006, unaware that it was contaminated with asbestos. In fact, there were 10 fibres per millimetre, which is 100 times the permitted level. The boiler house had been quarantined, and although the previous caretaker and headteacher were aware of the contamination, the replacement staff were not informed. ”

North Tyneside Magistrates fined the council £17,005 and ordered them to pay £3,911 in costs.

North Tyneside Council chief executive Andrew Kerr last night said: “As a council we recognise our responsibility to meet the highest possible health and safety standards to protect our staff and public. We have worked closely with the support of the Health and Safety Executive in the two years since this incident to implement a robust management approach.”