A building contractor has been prosecuted for safety failures after its workers were exposed to Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS).

MY Construction & Carpentry Limited of High Street, Waltham Cross pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. It has been fined £40,000 with more than £2,313 in costs.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard how the contractor was refurbishing a building at Netherall Gardens, London.

On 05 July 2016, a proactive site inspection discovered workers in a basement had been dry cutting approximately 250 bricks to shape them for use in bay windows.

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A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found there were a number of issues on site due to health and safety management failures. Employees had not been informed of the dangers of inhaling the dust, they were not made aware of the correct controls, and the work was not supervised by a competent person.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Prentiss Clarke-Jones said exposure to silica dust is the biggest risk to workers after asbestos.

"Over 500 construction workers are believed to die from exposure to silica dust every year," he said.

"This number can be reduced by those in control of the work through adequate planning, managing and monitoring of the work on site. MY Construction has been repeatedly warned by HSE about the dangers of silica, and has today been held to account for failing to take adequate action to protect the health and safety of its workers."

(LM/MH)