Painters exposed to asbestos at Cambridge college

Prosecutions and Claims |
11.03.2008

A Cambridge college has been fined after employees were exposed to asbestos fibres during painting work.

King's College, part of the University of Cambridge, and the college clerk of works, Geoff Cunnington, were prosecuted by the HSE after an incident in November 2006 in which a number of college staff were exposed to asbestos while painting asbestos-containing material under the balcony of Keynes Hall Theatre.

The HSE's investigation revealed that King's College had allowed its employees to work on asbestos-containing materials without taking the appropriate precautions. Work on the type of material present in the theatre required a licence under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

King's College pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 4(8), 6, 7(1), 8, 10, 11, 16 and 18 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. On 6 March, Cambridge magistrates fined the college £16,000 plus £14,500 costs.

Geoff Cunnington pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £1,000 plus £500 costs.

HSE principal inspector David Head said, "The exposure of employees to asbestos at King's College could and should have been avoided by straightforward safety precautions. HSE will not hesitate to take action against those who fall short of the law in such a way.

"If you are responsible for managing the maintenance and repair of a building, you must manage any asbestos in it."

More information on asbestos can be found on the HSE's website.

This month the HSE is targeting building maintenance and repair workers as part of its "Hidden killer" asbestos-awareness campaign. More on the campaign, which promotes the message "You're more at risk than you think!", is available here.