Sherwood Homes falls foul of CDM - again

摘要

A construction company has been fined ￡170,000, with ￡10,406 costs, for failing to ensure the safe removal of asbestos during demolition work. Sherwood Homes was the client responsible for the demolition of Crowton Mill in Northwich, Cheshire. After an asbestos survey conducted in January 2017 identified the presence of asbestos containing materials (ACMs), Sherwood Homes failed to use suitable contractors to remove the ACMs and demolish the mill a month later. The extra work to remove the ACMs properly would have increased the estimated costs and timescale. Sherwood Homes did not notify the HSE of its intention to remove asbestos at the site. Nor was it able to provide the HSE with details of how the ACMs were removed or disposed of. David Norton, an HSE inspector, emphasised that "asbestos should only be removed by specialist contractors" and that the failure to do so "put workers at risk". Sherwood Homes was sentenced at Greater Manchester Magistrates' Court on 30 May after it was convicted of not making suitable arrangements for managing a project, including allocating sufficient time and resource (reg. 4(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM)). Peter Kiely, who was a director of the company at the time, was fined ￡6,500, with costs of ￡7,000, after he pleaded guilty to a breach of s.37 of the HSW Act in that the company's offence was committed with his consent or connivance or was otherwise attributable to his neglect. The company's most recent accounts show a pre-tax loss in 2018 of ￡7,263,677 on turnover of ￡14,701,728.