A Mansfield care provider has been ordered to pay fines and costs of £24,000 after it admitted failing to properly manage the risk of exposing workers to asbestos.
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Debdale Specialist Care Ltd, which runs Thistle Hill Hall care home on Debdale Lane, Mansfield Woodhouse, pleaded guilty on the first day of a trial at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday (10 February).
On Tuesday (11 February) the court ordered the company to pay a £4,000 fine and £20,000 towards prosecution costs after it admitted breaching sections 2(1) and 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 between September 2005 and April 2012.
Environmental Health Officers from Mansfield District Council began an investigation after receiving a report from the Health and Safety Executive in March 2012.
Prosecuting for Mansfield District Council, Chris Geeson told the court there was no proper asbestos management plan in place at Thistle Hill Hall. This would have ensured that people working in areas where asbestos was present were aware of it and did not do anything to risk their health.
Council officers served a prohibition notice on the company which prohibited anyone other than an asbestos specialist from entering the loft areas.
A full asbestos survey in May 2012 revealed there were a number of asbestos-containing materials in the loft areas of the building.
These materials were said to pose a higher risk and the survey recommended that they were removed. By this stage three maintenance staff had worked in the loft areas over several years without any knowledge of the presence of asbestos.
Debdale Specialist Care Ltd subsequently engaged a specialist company, which removed a significant number of asbestos-containing materials from the loft areas and helped it to implement an asbestos management plan.
Sentencing, His Honour Judge Sampson noted that the company had accepted that the presence of asbestos in the loft areas was not managed effectively and to the extent required by law. He noted several aggravating features including; the length of time the employees worked in the loft areas without the benefit of an adequate asbestos management plan; the late guilty plea and the failure to retain and act upon a full asbestos survey, principally by failing to appoint anyone with the specific task of overseeing asbestos safety until 2008.
In mitigation, he accepted that the company had a good health and safety record generally, that the failure to carry out an asbestos survey and implement an asbestos management plan was negligent rather than intentional, and that proper steps were taken to remedy deficiencies when they came to light.
Bev Smith, Corporate Director of Regeneration and Regulation at Mansfield District Council, said: “The Council takes very seriously the health and safety of people at work. We will ensure employers meet their statutory responsibilities under current legislation and as this case demonstrates, will take appropriate action when this is not the case.”
