The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today warned businesses to ensure they keep accurate details of asbestos in their buildings before any construction work takes place.

Managers of non-domestic premises must also ensure they act upon any information about asbestos, which they may hold.

The warning follows a serious incident in which at least 15 tradesmen were exposed to airborne asbestos fibres over almost two months during a major refurbishment of the former Ballroom nightclub, Carnegie Drive, Dunfermline in 2005.

Dean Entertainments Ltd, 191 Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy was fined £28,000 and Edward Dean Melville a director of the company was fined £7,000 at Dunfermline Sheriff Court today (Tuesday 9 December, 2008) after both pleading guilty to charges under section 3(1) and section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act respectively.

Dean Entertainments Ltd contracted Ainslie Homes Ltd to act as Principal Contractor for the project at the Ballroom.  Ainslie Homes Ltd and Dean Entertainments Ltd both share the same business address and Mr Melville is a director for both companies. 

This was a major refurbishment, which required the involvement of a number of different trades.  The work included the demolition of existing partitions, the installation of a new stairway, an extension to an existing mezzanine level and the installation of a new lift.  All of this work involved significant disturbance of the fabric of the building.

Work continued on the project despite concerns being raised by the tradesmen about the possible presence of asbestos within the building.  Work was stopped by HSE after they were contacted directly by one of the site workers.

HSE Principal inspector Jim Skilling commented after the case:

"This was a very serious incident which allowed a significant number of tradesmen to be exposed to airborne asbestos fibres over an extended period.

"The effects of exposure to asbestos fibres can take as long as 20 to 30 years to manifest themselves.  Almost 4,000 people are dying every year due to unrecognised exposure to asbestos early in their working lives.  Legislation came into force in May 2004, which requires the person in control of any non-domestic premises to identify and assess asbestos in those premises.

"Dean Entertainments Ltd and Mr Melville failed to establish if asbestos was present within the Ballroom prior to allowing work to commence, despite being informed on at least two occasions that a survey had to be carried out.  Mr Melville was unable to provide any evidence to support his argument that there was no asbestos in the building.  He also failed to deal correctly with concerns, voiced on a number of occasions, from those working within the building about the possible presence of asbestos. 

"He used a contractor, who did not have an asbestos removal licence, to remove almost a quarter of a tonne of material from the Ballroom site.   Even then the material was identified on a waste disposal site document as asbestos."

A recent HSE campaign "Asbestos – the hidden killer" highlighted the fact that 20 tradesmen are dying every week from asbestos related illnesses.  The purpose of the campaign was to further raise awareness amongst tradesmen, like those involved in the incident at the Ballroom, of the risks from exposure to asbestos.  http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/hiddenkiller/index.htm