Thames Laboratories| Environmental Asbestos Surveys | Asbestos Consultants

Cancer deaths from asbestos at all-time high

Thames Laboratories — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:36:30 +0000

Deaths from a cancer caused by asbestos dust are at an all-time high, research by BBC Look East has revealed. Since the 1980s, the male death rate from mesothelioma has increased more than four-fold in the east of England. The increase outstripped those in Scotland and Wales and in all but one English region, according [...]

High street retailer and two contractors found guilty of safety failings

Thames Laboratories — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:58:58 +0000

Marks and Spencer plc and two of its contractors have been convicted for putting members of the public, staff and construction workers at risk of exposure to asbestos-containing materials during the refurbishment of two stores. Asbestos is the biggest single cause of work-related deaths in the UK, with an estimated 4,000 people dying every year. [...]

Asbestos exposure at sheltered housing leads to fine

Thames Laboratories — Wed, 11 May 2011 07:30:10 +0000

A Nottinghamshire building firm contaminated an elderly resident’s possessions with asbestos during bathroom renovation work at sheltered housing in West Bridgford. Abbott and Mason Building and Joinery Contractors Ltd of Mansfield also left asbestos-containing materials outside the building in the open air, putting the public at risk. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the [...]

Plymouth workers exposed to asbestos

Thames Laboratories — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:30:25 +0000

A contracting firm was sentenced today after workers at a major renovation site in Plymouth were exposed to asbestos containing material. CLC Contractors Ltd of Vincent Avenue, Shirley, Southampton, was fined a total of £10,000 and ordered to pay £3,064 in costs in a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at Plymouth [...]

Asbestos campaigners launch asbestos awareness survey in conjunction with UKAS

Thames Laboratories — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:55:48 +0000

British asbestos campaigners have today launched a national survey exploring general awareness and understanding of asbestos in buildings and the regulations designed to protect UK workers from being exposed to asbestos in their workplace. The survey can be taken here: The Great British Asbestos in Buildings Survey 2011 The survey has been developed in conjunction [...]

Workers exposed to deadly asbestos fibres at Topshop

Thames Laboratories — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:23:48 +0000

Retail giant Arcadia has been sentenced, alongside a shopfitting firm, after construction workers were exposed to potentially deadly asbestos fibres at a Topshop store in Liverpool. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the clothing shops’ owners, Arcadia Group Ltd, and the principal contractor for the site, Vincents (Shopfitters) Ltd, following an investigation. Specialists dealing [...]

Fines for asbestos failures on site

Thames Laboratories — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:23:35 +0000

The director of an asbestos surveying firm has been sentenced after failing to manage the spread of asbestos at a demolition site in Leicester. Shay James, a director of Redditch-based Amencon Ltd, which has since ceased trading, was appointed by Bovis Homes to carry out an asbestos survey of a factory unit in the city’s [...]

School asbestos compensation puts councils under pressure

Thames Laboratories — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:22:10 +0000

In landmark ruling, Dianne Willmore wins £240,000 posthumously after exposure as a child The government faces pressure to assess the risk of asbestos in schools following a landmark legal victory for the family of a woman who died after “low-level” exposure as a secondary school pupil. The supreme court has upheld a £240,000 compensation claim [...]

Families win asbestos compensation appeal

Thames Laboratories — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:03:52 +0000

Seven Judges at The Supreme Court said two families can keep compensation awarded by the courts for their loved ones deaths. Both Dianne Willmore and Enid Costello died of mesothelioma, an asbestos cancer, having had small doses of asbestos dust. Dianne was exposed whilst a pupil at her school and Mrs Costello during her work. [...]

Company fined after exposing workers and the public to asbestos

Thames Laboratories — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:03:38 +0000

A refurbishment company has been fined after workers and the public were exposed to asbestos in a Leicestershire village. Shengxuan Company Ltd was converting a shop in Borough Street, Castle Donington, into a restaurant on 16 June 2010. Part of the work involved converting an integral garage into a storeroom but in doing so, workers [...]