Palletforce member Avon Freight has been fined £30,000 after it exposed staff to potentially harmful asbestos fibres over a five month period.
In a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, Worcester Crown Court was told how in 2008, the Redditch-based haulier was demolishing the walls of a unit adjacent to its Hemming Road headquarters to develop a new storage facility.
The company asked builder Ronald MacPhee to remove asbestos insulation board in several partition walls in April and May 2008, despite the fact he did not have a licence to do it.
MacPhee's team removed 1.5 tonnes of board and disposed of it as asbestos cement - a material which can be removed without a licence.
However, five months later, pieces of board containing asbestos fibres were discovered on the floor.
Although Avon Freight cooperated fully with the HSE, it pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and was ordered to pay £26,147 costs.
Simon Poole, MD, was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £26,147 costs, while MacPhee received a fine of £2,500 and told to pay £500 costs.
Poole says: "We were unaware of requirements involved in removal of asbestos and have learnt a hard lesson on the back of that decision.
"It was accepted by court that no profit was made from our actions, it was not a deliberate act, and we did not have sight of the asbestos report, that the air test readings taken by the HSE were below the prescribed levels.
"These facts were all taken as mitigation by the court as was our unblemished record.
"There is no question that asbestos is a dangerous product particularly with long exposure times and I would urge any company with building to review the existence of asbestos in the building and take professional advice."
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