http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1400534_coop_fined_over_shop_asbestos
Shoppers and staff at a Co-op convenience store were put at risk of being exposed to asbestos following serious health and safety failures.
Bosses at the Co-operative Group Ltd took no immediate action despite being told there was brown asbestos in the ceiling when they took over the shop in Market Square, Royton.
A sub-contractor sent in to fit a fire alarm smashed a hole in one of the asbestos panels with a hammer, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court was told.
Two female shop workers cleaned up the mess he had made and left the debris in an open bag at the rear of the store for two weeks.
Asbestos debris was found on top of a food cabinet and inside a freezer three months later.
Lisa Judge, prosecuting for Oldham council, said: “Staff and members of the public were potentially exposed to asbestos.”
Co-operative Group Ltd, based in Manchester, admitted one offence under the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974.
SF Fire Protection Services Ltd, the West Yorkshire-based sub-contractor, admitted two offences under the same act.
The court heard asbestos was found in a survey when the shop was owned by United Co-operative stores in 2002.
Co-operative Group Ltd was made aware of the survey when it took over the shop in 2007, but no action was taken, it was said.
The company warned SF Fire Protection Services asbestos was present but failed to tell it the exact location when the alarm was fitted in November that year. Judge Peter Lakin fined the Co-operative £30,000 and ordered it to pay more than £7,360 costs.
He fined SF Fire Protection Services £6,000 for each offence – a total of £12,000. He also ordered the firm to pay more than £7,360 costs.
Judge Lakin said: “The failures by the Co-operative resulted in staff being exposed to asbestos fibres for a three-month period while the remedial work was undertaken.”
A spokeswoman for the Co-operative Group said afterwards it was ‘badly let down’ by its sub-contractor’ and added tests showed asbestos levels were within safe limits. The store is no longer owned by the company
Im flabbergasted at the ignorance of the Co-Op when it is reported as they said the asbestos level was safe???? there is no safe level as just one lung full is a killer.
The facts must really be taught so as to stop deaths Of mesothelioma.
