Charitable trust and contractor fined for asbestos safety failings

Posted on Friday 1 January 2010

A charitable trust and a contractor it employed has been fined for safety failings after disturbing asbestos and continuing to work in a building.

The Williamson Trust is responsible for the running of a school academy where Mark Tucker was contracted to refurbish a building block.

Chatham Magistrates’ Court heard that in July 2012, knowing the trust had an asbestos register identifying where asbestos was located within the school, work was carried out by Mark Tucker to refurbish a building block without consulting the register.

However, the trust had failed to complete a refurbishment and demolition survey, and had failed to ensure that the contractors had the asbestos information they needed to carry out the work safely.

The Williamson Trust of Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent pleaded guilty to Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay costs of £17,000.

Mark Tucker of Maidstone Road, Chatham, Kent pleaded guilty to Regulation 13(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, and was fined £9000 and ordered to pay costs of £8000.