Asbestos info 'not communicated' (From Harrow Times)
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Asbestos info 'not communicated'
5:40pm Tuesday 8th July 2008 in News
A COMPANY which failed to process asbestos properly suffered from communication problems, according to the council.
Kier, a construction firm, has admitted it failed to comply with its own procedure as well as Health and Safety Executive guidance in the disposal of the substance in Brookside Close, Eastcote.
Andrew Trehern, head of community and environment at Harrow Council, said information about asbestos in the estate was "not properly communicated within the Kier team".
He said: "While this incident involved material containing asbestos which posed a low health risk, nonetheless we regard incidents of this kind as unacceptable.
"The safety of our residents is and will always be our top priority.
"The council has in place a well-tested procedure for providing information to contractors engaged to work on the decent homes programme."
He said the council and Kier have introduced further quality control checks to stop a similar incident happening again.
Kier was contracted by the authority to carry out refurbishment work in Brookside Close as part of Decent Homes, a project aimed at improving council and social housing in the borough.
The asbestos was contained in household objects, including bakelite cisterns and thermoplastic tiles.
In a report released to opposition Labour councillors, Chris Bunker, Kier general manager for Decent Homes, admitted the mistake had been made but said the type of asbestos in question is only dangerous when broken down into small particles.
The two organisations are working in partnership and Kier has declined to issue a separate response.
