Essex school fined after refurbishment disturbs asbestos Published:  25 July, 2016 An Essex school has been fined after poorly planned and managed refurbishment and maintenance activities exposed school staff and others to asbestos. Managers at The Boswells School, Chelmsford, decided to convert an old boiler room at the school into a cleaning store, Chelmsford Crown Court heard on 22 July. During the course of this work, asbestos residue on the walls was disturbed and caretakers swept contaminated debris from floors. Their exposure to risk only came to light after a later asbestos survey was completed in the area. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigated this incident and learned that asbestos containing materials were also present in other areas. School caretaking staff and contractors disturbed the fabric of school buildings over many years without being alerted to its presence. Persons who entered potentially contaminated areas were placed at risk of developing serious ill health conditions arising from exposure to airborne respirable asbestos fibres. The school also failed to ensure that spread of asbestos was prevented or reduced. The Boswells Academy Trust, of Burnham Road, Chelmsford, Essex, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 – Sections 2(1) & 3(1). The trust was fined £26,000 and ordered to pay costs of £20,000. HSE inspector Glyn Davies said: “The Boswells Academy Trust should have controlled this potentially lethal risk by identifying the type, location and condition of any asbestos-containing-materials within the fabric of the school, and by implementing suitable precautions to prevent its disturbance. It should then have ensured that such information was shared with anyone liable to disturb this fabric. It may also have arranged for a licensed asbestos contractor to remove any dangerous asbestos safely before commencement of any work. “This prosecution should act as a reminder, not just to schools but to all persons in control of the repair and maintenance of non-domestic premises, of the need to ensure that a suitable and sufficient assessment of risk from asbestos is carried out, and that correct control measures are put in place to ensure that exposure to asbestos is prevented, so far as is reasonably practicable.” For further information on asbestos visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/. Source link

©Bloomberg In the canon of business drama, the fall and recovery of an overextended contractor is a classic. Take Balfour Beatty. Up to 2010 was hubris — growth at all costs, including 45 acquisitions — begetting a litter of lossmaking contracts and a higgledy-piggledy structure. Then nemesis, with seven profit warnings, and catharsis, as new management arrived to reimpose such old virtues as simple organisation and choosier bidding. Wednesday’s half-year results drew back the curtain on the latest scene, with an unexpected new player — Brexit. Thus far, Balfour reports little actual damage (though it used the referendum aftermath to launch a brazen plea for more UK infrastructure spend). Its legacy contracts are a diminishing drag, and losses of £66m on £862m of UK sales were better than expected — enough for an underlying profit of £7m and the resumption of the dividend. Yet its equity is valued below £1.8bn. Without its £1.25bn portfolio of private finance initiative projects the core business is being assessed as worth just £500m. Caution is justified: for construction a good result is generating 2 or 3 per cent operating profit margins, leaving little room for bad luck such as Brexit. Political risk makes planning harder, particularly in manpower, where supply was already tight. Balfour likes to bring on young staff, but to promise a full career it needs long-term certainty over large projects, recently in short supply. Threatened curbs on immigration do not help either. Against this, £500m is cheap for the core construction business with over £7bn annual sales, half from the US. Its operational reboot is on track. Most of a £100m savings target has already been realised. Lower-for-longer interest rates should boost the £1.25bn value of the project portfolio, leaving the core construction business even cheaper. It is winning orders in areas where it is has made money, such as a Californian rail electrification project. Closer to apotheosis, then, but too soon to call a happy ending. Email the Lex team at lex@ft.com Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link