A building contractor has been sentenced after putting the public at risk due to his inability to undertake refurbishment work in a safe and controlled manner.
The contractor was converting an old warehouse into smaller work units whilst utilising his own employees when a member of the public reported their concerns about bricks being knocked into a public walkway.
The HSE found that as well as putting the public at risk, his employees were endangered on numerous occasions such as providing no edge protection to prevent a fall and the potential to fall down an internal open shaft. They had also been unknowingly disturbing asbestos-containing materials such as cement and insulation without any respiratory protective equipment or suitable PPE in addition to having no asbestos awareness training. Furthermore, live electrical cables posed risk of electric shock as they ran through water without RCD protection. There was an overall lack of general training and suitable equipment for work to be carried out according to safety measures and regulations.
The contractor pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, Regulation 4 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. He received as 12 month suspended sentence and was consequently fined £5000 and ordered to pay costs of £4626.08.
