A company has been prosecuted after 13 employees and contractors were exposed to asbestos fibres during work at a natural gas storage facility near Atwick, East Yorkshire.

SSE Hornsea Ltd, of Inveralmond House, 200 Dunkeld Road, Perth, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2 (1) and 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc, Act 1974. It has been fined £300,000 with £1,731 in costs.

Beverley Magistrates' Court heard that a team of three mechanical maintenance personnel were tasked with removing a non-return valve from a compressed air distribution system at the natural gas storage facility.

As some of the sealing gasket material was difficult to remove, the teams used a wire brush mounted on an electric drill to remove the gasket material. This spread fibres from the gasket around the maintenance workshop onto floors, work benches and clothing.

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Two days later, an employee of SSE Hornsea became suspicious of the fibrous dust. After reporting his concerns, a sample of the dust was arranged to be tested and it was found to contain chrysotile (white) asbestos fibres. The maintenance workshop was later closed to prevent access by employees and contractors.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told the court that SSE Hornsea had failed to identify in the risk assessment for the job that there were asbestos gaskets attached to the non-return valve. HSE also told the court that records held on site, which could have helped identify the presence of asbestos, were not adequate and that the maintenance team leader involved in this task had not undertaken asbestos awareness training.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Paul Miller said: "In this case SSE Hornsea Ltd substantially failed to manage the risks associated with asbestos found within their process plant and have needlessly risked the future health of 13 people.

"Employers should ensure that they have in place adequate arrangements for both the identification and management of asbestos which may be found in buildings or process plant."

(LM/MH)