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Dust and Air Monitoring

Asbestos failings cost hotel chain more than £200,000

A Cheshire-based hotel chain has been hit with a heavy fine in relation to asbestos failings.

Apex Asbestos Sampling Kit from Casella

Apex Asbestos Sampling Kit
from Casella

Dust monitoring might have saved a renowned hotel chain from being forced to pay more than £200,000 in fines and costs linked to asbestos exposure at the Grand Burstin Hotel in Folkestone, Kent had it been in place.

The establishment is part of Cheshire-based Britannia Hotels and is located on Harbour Way.

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the punishment relates to exposure between February and July 2010 during construction and refurbishment work at the site.

The lack of an asbestos assessment and dust monitoring equipment meant that construction workers, hotel employees and guests were potentially exposed to the deadly fibres, which can cause cancer and respiratory illness decades after exposure.

Dust monitoring equipment such as the APEX Asbestos Sampling Kit and the Microdust Pro CEL-712, both from Casella, are examples of equipment that could be used in detecting asbestos within the building.

The APEX Asbsetos Sampling Kit has a fast charging system with a battery which can last more than 45 hours at 2L/min and a large LCD screen which indicates real-time flow and volume.

The Microdust Pro CEL-712 is also a real-time dust monitor and can be handheld which makes it useful for walkthrough surveys of ambient and indoor workplace environments

Both of these instruments can be purchased from the Frontline Safety website or if more information is required contact us on [email protected].

Canterbury Crown Court was told that it was not until after work had begun that an asbestos surveyor discovered the product's presence.

CEL 712 Microdust Pro From Casella

CEL 712
Microdust Pro
From Casella

He noted that the dust had spread from the eaves to the second floor and called in a licensed contractor to seal off the area and remove the dust.

The company pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £160,000 and ordered to pay costs of £40,051.

HSE inspector Melvyn Stancliffe explained that Britannia Hotels was wrong to carry out work without a full asbestos survey.

"The company's failure to deal with the asbestos could have resulted in up to 22 workers being exposed to asbestos from the outset of the project until the end of July 2010," he said.

"Although guests did not have direct access to the floors where asbestos was found, it is possible that the fibres may have spread into areas that were still open to them. The simple fact is that because of the company's failures, both guests and workers have been put at risk, and they now face an uncertain future."

Mr Stancliffe added that such situations are avoidable and said he hoped the case acted as a warning to other firms not to make the same mistakes.

Meanwhile, an HSE inspection of London building sites recently found that almost one in four failed to meet minimum legal safety standards.

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