Thrybergh firm fined over warehouse asbestos danger

An investigator from the Health and Safety Executive told a hearing at Rotherham Magistrates Court how employees of Fosters of Thrybergh Ltd were found to be working among crumbling asbestos sheeting in warehouses on Oldgate Lane, Thrybergh.

Staff had even fashioned a sign from a piece of broken asbestos sheeting while oblivious to its potentially deadly properties.

HSE investigator Mark Welsh told the hearing: “They were totally unaware that they had been working among asbestos.”

The discovery came in September last year when inspectors visited the warehouses used by Fosters-owned Rotherham Bonding Company Ltd to assess the buildings which had been bought by Rotherham Borough Council two months earlier.

Mr Welsh said: “Workers were moving stock around with forklift trucks.

“We were able to see broken sections of asbestos sheeting laid on the floor and in the roof.”

Mr Welsh said that the risk posed by asbestos fibres occurred as soon as the material was damaged or disturbed and there was clear evidence of this having occurred.

He said that staff at the site were warned of the risks and a notice was served on the Rotherham Bonding Company to prohibit access to the building.

Further inspections uncovered damaged asbestos insulation, roof panels and wall cladding.

Fosters of Thrybergh pleaded guilty to two charges relating to asbestos exposure.

Mr Andrew Cameron, mitigating, said that it was an offence committed “through ignorance” but stated that the asbestos had only been disturbed by the movement of stock from the buildings in the days prior to the inspection.

Employees of Fosters of Thrybergh had been brought in to help the movement of cask wines and spirits from the buildings following the sale of the property.

He said: “Fosters of Thrybergh are a reputable firm that takes very seriously their health and safety responsibilities."

Mr Cameron said that real and significant steps had been taken to prevent further exposure to asbestos following the visit from HSE officials, including a £20,000 decontamination of stock.

The buildings were subsequently demolished by the borough council.

Rotherham District Judge, Mr John Foster, fined Fosters of Thrybergh £5,500 and ordered the business to pay £6,250 in costs.