A waste and recycling site has been fined for multiple health and safety failings including the breach of asbestos regulations.

Last Updated on March 4, 2015 by neilhardy

A waste and recycling firm situated in Carmarthen, Wales has been prosecuted and fined by the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) at Swansea Court due to breach of asbestos regulations and dangerous conditions for 34 workers and any visitors to the site.

Health and safety inspectors had to serve a total of 8 notices to the site, ordering it to immediately stop its work activities due to the number of risks. The conditions at the site were said by the HSE officer to be poor and the dangers clear.

The site was run my Mekatek Ltd at Amex Park. During a routine health and safety check in May 2013, many health and safety issues were discovered and raised by inspectors.

Risks found on the site included;

• Access to unguarded machinery; There was an unsecure man basket on a fork life truck with no cage behind the basket stopping workers becoming trapped. Additionally there were no guards to stop workers being caught in moving machine parts of a granulator.
• Exposure to risk of electrocution; There were electric cables were found trailing through liquid.
• Exposure to asbestos; There were areas of the site where asbestos containing materials where present, the asbestos containing material pipe lagging was damaged, in poor condition and exposed to workers meaning that fibres could easily be released and workers were at risk of inhaling them leading serious health problems such as Mesothelioma.

An earlier report at the site identified and urgently recommended the removal of such asbestos so as not to pose any further risks to employees, however this was disregarded by Mekatek and work was allowed to continue. The firm failed to manage basic health and safety on site with multiple failings on regulations confirming the approach to managing the health and safety was inadequate.

Mekatek Ltd of Sheffield pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety regulations, as well as a single breach of asbestos regulations and a breach of work equipment regulations. The total fine for the firm was £35,000 and they were ordered to pay £20,000 in costs.

The HSE states that the management of asbestos should have been immediately obvious to the firm. Duty holders or those responsible for employees are legally required to manage the asbestos at their premises with an asbestos management survey, which in this case Mekatek did not. Regulations also state that every employer must make sure that anyone who is liable to disturb asbestos during their normal work or those who supervise those employees has the correct level of training so they can work safely without putting themselves or others at risk.

https://press.hse.gov.uk/2015/firm-fined-for-multiple-failings-at-carmarthen-waste-site/

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Published Mar 04, 2015