The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a company and its employee for carrying out work to buildings contaminated with asbestos.  Mohammed Zahid was working for Azam Bros Ltd when he was instructed to clear two of the company’s buildings in Great Yarmouth which had been recently damaged by fire.  During the clearance work he left an uncovered skip out in the open resulting in dust and debris blowing around the surrounding area.

 

This poor-practice led to complaints being filed with the local authority, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, who placed a stop notice on the works. The buildings were then inspected and asbestos was discovered.

 

Azam Bros Ltd had already received quotes for the work from a firm which highlighted the potential presence of asbestos but chose instead to employ Mr Zahid to carry out the work. 

 

Together with the HSE, Great Yarmouth Borough Council prosecuted both Mohammed Zahid and Azam Bros Ltd for failing to carry out an asbestos survey prior to beginning work.  A survey of this type is a legal requirement and would have revealed asbestos.

 

Additionally, as asbestos had been discovered the work ought to have been carried out by a licensed asbestos removal company but Mohammed Zahid was unlicensed and had received no training in the removal of the cancer causing material.

 

Zahid, 33 of Manchester, was ordered to pay £1500 in fines and court costs with Azam Bros Ltd fined £2500 and ordered to pay a further £2500 costs.

 

HSE Inspector Peter Nickerson said:

 

"Before anyone undertakes any construction work they must consider whether asbestos may be present and take the precautionary steps such as carrying out an asbestos survey.

 

"Most work with asbestos requires a licensed contractor to remove it safely and responsibly. Azam Bros Ltd did not think about the risks they may have exposed the public to by employing Mr Zahid and trying to cut corners."

 

Comment:

 

Azam Bros Ltd appear to have put price before safety by failing to undertake a proper asbestos survey and by failing to employ licensed contractors to undertake clearance work safely.

 

The case clearly highlights the blasé attitude of some companies towards the dangers of work involving asbestos even though such dangers are well known. The fact that it usually takes decades for the ill effects of asbestos exposure to materialise may be relevant in some companies willingness to ‘take a chance’ on health.

 

Sadly such practices have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people from asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening.

 

In this case those responsible have paid a financial price for their failings but others in the community may not learn the greater price, that to their health, for many years to come.

  

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About John Pickering and Partners LLP

John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors

 

We are a dedicated personal injury law firm who do not do other types of work.  We specialise in claiming damages for asbestos sufferers. We have been handling compensation claims for industrial disease for over 30 years. Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims who suffer from mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening. We only act for the sufferers of asbestos diseases and never act for the organisations that caused the asbestos exposure or their insurers. We have an ethical approach and donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers.  We have set up a charitable trust to help to fund medical research into mesothelioma and various organisations that help and support asbestos sufferers and their families.

 

Find out more about our donations to good causes. We have also been involved in most of the landmark judgments that shape this area of law. Find out more about us or  our reported cases. We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides.  Find out more about what others have said about us.

 

John Pickering and Partners LLP is a niche legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the landmark Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

 

The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos were featured in the important documentary "Alice: A Fight For Life." Shown by Yorkshire Television in July 1982, the programme was an important catalyst for legal change and public awareness of the plight of mesothelioma and other asbestos disease sufferers and a prompt for important legal reform.

 

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of certain bodily organs. It most commonly affects the lining of the lungs (the pleura) but it can affect other areas including organs in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum).

 

More than 2,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in the UK and there is one mesothelioma death every five hours. The number of deaths from mesothelioma increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004 and is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015. 

 

The first Action Mesothelioma Day was launched on 27th February 2006.  Its objectives were to raise awareness about mesothelioma, to improve the treatment and care of mesothelioma patients, and to lobby for better funding for research into mesothelioma and for the protection and education of people who may be exposed to asbestos.

If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.

 

Contact us to find out more about your entitlement to claim compensation if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer or pleural thickening.

 

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