Local authorities in Britain’s Wear Valley fined for asbestos violations
The Wear Valley District Council has been fined nearly ₤26,000 (including costs) for violating the U.K.’s Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations. Although the district council had undertaken a survey of the property and learned in 2001 that there was asbestos in the plant room of the council-run leisure center, the district council failed to abate the asbestos or warn individuals working in the building that it had been discovered. In fact, work that would likely disturb asbestos-containing products, and make the asbestos fibers airborne where they could be inhaled, was performed without any precautions being taken to protect workers’ health. Asbestos disease, including mesothelioma, is the leading occupational cause of death in the U.K., causing 15 times the number of deaths that result from fatal accidents in the workplace. Even without considering asbestos in residences, it is estimated that half a million premises in the U.K. contain asbestos of some type, creating a risk of asbestos exposure to many more workers everyday.
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