Poundland were recently fined £565,000 following multiple cases of asbestos mismanagement in their Ipswich store between 2011 and 2018.
Before they took over what was a former Woolworths store in the town the business had organised for a survey to take place on the site and this then found numerous asbestos types all over the building. Following this the retailer arranged for consultants to return annually and monitor these discoveries but Poundland did not have "proper asbestos management plan for staff and visitors" according to Ipswich Borough Council during the hearing......
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Across the last ten years Cumbria City Council have paid out more than £300,000 to school staff in compensation following injuries sustained at the workplace.
Since 2012 the council have settled a total of 29 claims which include staff receiving compensation for slips, falls and assaults by their own pupils.
Teachers have also received pay-outs as a result of asbestos exposure from the school buildings. During the 2018/19 school year, one worker was paid over £200,000 due to a claim they made in 2006 after exposure to the deadly material years before......
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Elstree Film Studios, located in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire have recently discovered asbestos in large sections of their ageing buildings which could be effecting the filming of some of the biggest shows on TV.
The studios which are home to TV phenomenon’s such as BBC hit ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, Netflix’s historical royal drama ‘The Crown’ and major daytime quiz shows ‘The Chase’ and ‘Pointless’. It has been confirmed that ‘Strictly’ will continue as planned as the show is made in an area that is not affected by this asbestos scare but all filming......
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The cost that a primary school in Hereford will be facing for repairs has been revealed.
According to a recent article in the Hereford Times, the amount to be spent on Hampton Dene Primary School in Tupsley will be up to £370,00 which will be used to fix ceilings and roofs Herefordshire council have said.
A previous survey had identified asbestos in two areas of the building that would need to be removed with work on the larger of the two sections having taken place across the summer, the council have explained......
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The final resident of an Australian town referred to as “Australia’s Chernobyl” has failed to reach the deadline to leave imposed by the Western Australian Government of 31st August.
The town of Wittenoon is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest contaminated industrial site due its previous roots as an asbestos mining town. Exposure to the deadly substance was blamed for the deaths of 2000 workers of the Wittenoom mine and their families. The mine which used to export blue asbestos around the world was closed down in 1966 with a lack of profitability......
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The UK Government have been urged to take on the growing problem of England’s faltering school buildings. Figures detailed by the Guardian have revealed that of 20,000 school buildings surveyed between 2017 and 2019, 19,442 had a minimum of one element with “major defects” or “not operating as intended” with repairs and replacements clearly needed.
The National Education Union (NEU) said the numbers being reported were “shocking” and shared their belief that the £1bn the government are putting into what they called “state of the art” refurbishments to 61 schools was......
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Directors of Keebar Construction Ltd, James Keegan, 65, and Alan Barraclough, 51, who took on a £2.4m contract to transform a department store into student accommodation have been convicted of putting their employees at potentially fatal risk from asbestos.
The crown court in Newcastle discovered that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site in October 2017, several months after work had begun, subsequently stopping the construction after discovering multiple workers had been exposed to asbestos.
A prosecutor for the HSE, James Patrick McKeon, told the court (held in recent weeks)......
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A national asbestos-related cancer charity (Mesothelioma UK) has appointed Leah Taylor as the new head of nursing. In her new role, Leah will work closely with the charity’s operational team and trustees as well as providing strategic leadership to the charity’s network of 34 UK clinical nurse specialists.
Leah previously worked as team leader for the Mesothelioma UK North of England team and is currently based at the Wansbeck General Hospital, Northumbria. The appointment follows the retirement of former UK head of nursing, Lorraine Creech, who leaves the charity after eight......
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The Environment Agency (EA) is reminding construction professionals in Devon and Cornwall to take more care when making decisions regarding potentially dangerous waste disposal. The reminder comes after EA officers uncovered a considerable amount of asbestos waste at a site in the Southwest. The operator of the site was subsequently arrested by the police and questioned, before being released.
As we try to make clear through our blogs and courses here at CCUK, asbestos and other hazardous wastes require disposal by specialist contractors. Too often sites can illegally and un-safely handle......
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A former council employee at Waltham Forest has been paid over £200,000 in compensation after he was wrongfully exposed to asbestos in the Town Hall for over 10 years. The man, not named at the request of his family, was an administrative worker for the council and has unfortunately since died from cancer linked to inhaling asbestos fibres during his employment.
The employee was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma in 2018 and hence filed a claim for compensation to the council soon after. Despite initially denying several aspects of the claim,......
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