£33,000 fine over asbestos (From The Oxford Times)

£33,000 fine over asbestos

10:30am Thursday 9th September 2010 in

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A construction company has been fined £33,000 after Ministry of Defence workers were exposed to asbestos.

A survey of the boiler room at the Arncott base, in Bicester, in early 2005, found the whole room was contaminated with the deadly fibres and recommended that access should be restricted until it was removed.

However, London firm Interserve (Defence) failed to comply and left workers exposed to asbestos for more than a year, a judge at Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday.

The company was fined £33,000 and ordered to pay costs of £17,936 after previously pleading guilty at Banbury Magistrates’ Court.

Oxfordshire HSE inspector Matthew Lee, said: “Around 4,000 people die each year from past exposure to asbestos and the material may be present in any building built before the year 2000.”