Boss fined as Newport workers exposed to asbestos (From South Wales Argus)
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Boss fined as Newport workers exposed to asbestos
8:50pm Monday 25th February 2013 in Gwent news
AN INDUSTRIAL property owner exposed untrained workers to asbestos following a series of failings at a building in Newport, a court heard.
In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive, Caerphilly Magistrates’ Court heard Nasimul Karbani, 53, from West Drayton, Middlesex, employed two workers and helped them to remove rubbish and debris from a site at Bankside Coverack in Newport, which he part owned.
The debris included asbestos insulation board, which prosecutor Steve Richardson said was cleaned up in an unsafe manner and without the proper equipment required for dealing with asbestos.
A HSE investigation found that Karbani did not hold a licence to deal with the blue and white asbestos and the men he hired were not properly trained or equipped, and were not decontaminated following the work.
Matthew Cobb, defending, said Karbani was working in the yard ‘not to make a quick buck’ but to clear it so the inside of the building could be used by a licensed contractor.
He said the building, which had fallen into disrepair and became a squat for the city’s homeless, had been ripped up, with squatters tearing up the boards containing the asbestos and throwing them into the yard.
Magistrates were told that Karbani did not carry out a proper assessment of the risk of exposure to asbestos fibres and its condition in the building before work started.
In addition, Karbani failed to prevent the exposure of his employees to asbestos, and failed to control its spread during the clean up.
Chairperson of the bench Clive Hughes told Karbani: “I want to make you aware that these four charges in front of us could each have made you liable for up to £20,000.
“I want to emphasise that the charge of exposing your employees to asbestos is very serious.”
Karbani pleaded guilty to four separate breaches of the control of asbestos regulations and was fined a total of £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,015 in costs.
Comments(11)
Katie Re-Registered
says...
8:07am Tue 26 Feb 13
Surely nowhere near as serious though as the consequences of being exposed to asbestos are for the actual employees. Those consequences are death. Why is it only the bosses that the law courts care about nowadays?
displayed
says...
8:19am Tue 26 Feb 13
But because you're on the level, I'll just fine you a paltry sum, so you can square everything up!
coalpicker
says...
8:48am Tue 26 Feb 13
ginger79
says...
10:27am Tue 26 Feb 13
smokintheweed
says...
5:54pm Tue 26 Feb 13
coalpicker wrote:You really are a bigoted little man aren't you? Why do you have to bring race into as many stories as you can, in most cases where it isn't even the issue at hand.
Multi cultural Britain, Multi cultural behaviour,third world here we come .
You must have a chip on your shoulder the size of the Bismarck. I pity you.
coalpicker
says...
6:21pm Tue 26 Feb 13
from reality or a westernised oriental
gentleman on the hard stuff .
smokintheweed
says...
6:33pm Tue 26 Feb 13
coalpicker wrote:You are wrong on both counts I'm afraid. Essentially calling me a wog is pretty racist as well. Goes to show how bigoted you are since there was no mention of race in this story.
Smokingtheweed my old hophead take your own advice,you must be divorced
from reality or a westernised oriental
gentleman on the hard stuff .
All you have to attack me with is my user name which does not represent how I act in real life.
coalpicker
says...
8:57pm Tue 26 Feb 13
post I called you a Quisling, Clearly if
you can find anything racist about my original comment on this article then please enlighten me. I bemoan the fact that as we allow third world citizens to enter our country they dilute our higher standards in every facit of our society
and in consequence bring us closer to the situation they left behind. My concern is for my grand children and great grand children. Do you realise
that one fibre of asbestos
is enough to condem someone to a very nasty death,the actions of this person may well result in the death of
a number of people ,he should have gone to jail and anyone who supports
these third world methods should be there with him. Now be a good chap
and put your brain in gear before you open your PC mouth . End of chat.
Stott4691
says...
9:31pm Tue 26 Feb 13
smokintheweed
says...
12:29am Wed 27 Feb 13
coalpicker wrote:The fact that you originally posted "Multi cultural Britain, Multi cultural behaviour,third world here we come." seems to mean that you saw the name Karbani and decided that this was an issue involving the mans nationality.
Smokintheweed you old hophead you,I did not call you a WOG, What is a WOG ? on a previous
post I called you a Quisling, Clearly if
you can find anything racist about my original comment on this article then please enlighten me. I bemoan the fact that as we allow third world citizens to enter our country they dilute our higher standards in every facit of our society
and in consequence bring us closer to the situation they left behind. My concern is for my grand children and great grand children. Do you realise
that one fibre of asbestos
is enough to condem someone to a very nasty death,the actions of this person may well result in the death of
a number of people ,he should have gone to jail and anyone who supports
these third world methods should be there with him. Now be a good chap
and put your brain in gear before you open your PC mouth . End of chat.
I certainly agree that asbestos is harmful to anyone's health but let's stick to the story and not bring xenophobia into the mix.
tHatDude says...
9:13pm Mon 25 Feb 13