Mill staff were ‘exposed to deadly asbestos’
THE company which owns a mill where four workers died in an explosion has been fined for putting employees at risk by exposing them to deadly asbestos in the aftermath of the blast.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is continuing its investigation three years after the huge blast at Bosley Mill operated by Wood Treatment.
As part of the enforcement action that followed, the HSE required Wood Treatment to replace asbestos cement cladding in its warehouse with ‘explosion relief ’ panels to improve safety in the event of another incident.
But when two HSE inspectors visited the site to assess progress in October, 2016, they realised that asbestos panels had been removed, cut to shape with power tools and then replaced in breach of the Control of Asbestos Regulations.
An investigation found that the external company contracted to fit the explosion relief panels did not undertake work with materials containing asbestos. Instead, the original cladding had been removed by Wood Treatment employees.
Although Wood Treatment was aware of the presence of asbestos, this was not shared with workers and measures were not taken to contain the risk.
Wood Treatment, of Tunstall Road, pleaded guilty to one breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court.
The company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,000, as well as a victim surcharge of £170.
Following the case, HSE inspector Ian Betley said: “Asbestos is responsible for thousands of deaths in the UK every year but it only becomes dangerous when it is broken up and fibres are released into the air.
“Asbestos should only be removed by specialist contractors. Wood Treatment put workers at risk by not following the correct safety procedures.”
The explosion ripped through the mill at around 9.10am Friday July 17, 2015.
William Barks, aged 51, of Dalehouse Road, Cheddleton; Dorothy Bailey, aged 62, from Bosley; Jason Shingler, aged 38, of Sycamore Avenue, Congleton; and Derek Moore, aged 62, of Colclough Lane, Goldenhill , were all killed in the blast.
Around 35 other people were assessed by paramedics with four taken to specialist units and many more were left suffering with the psychological trauma of their ordeal.
Asked about progress on the investigation into the four fatalities, an HSE spokesman said: “We continue to support the police-led investigation as we have done over the past three years, with inspectors and specialists from a broad range of disciplines and divisions working very closely with officers from Cheshire Police.”