Shipping firm and tour company fined over asbestos

A ship management company and holiday firm have been fined after workers aboard a luxury cruise ship were exposed to harmful asbestos fibres.

Andrew Weir Shipping and All Leisure Holidays pleaded guilty to breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 in a hearing at Teesside Magistrates Court after two labourers working on the Hebridean Princess ship were exposed to the material when removing a ceiling and wall panels in a passenger lounge.

Andrew Weir Shipping was fined a total of £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,829 and All Leisure Holidays were fined a total of £6,000, with £5,640 costs.

Investigating the case, the Health and Safety Executive found that in 2008, Andrew Weir Shipping carried out an asbestos survey on the ship which found the substance behind some ceiling panels on another part of the vessel.

The court was told that this should have been a warning sign that the material could be present in other rooms on the ship, but no further checks were carried out by All Leisure Holidays despite then being given a copy of the survey.

Commenting on the case, HSE inspector Victoria Wise said: “All Leisure Holidays Ltd and Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd both failed to ensure that a suitable and sufficient assessment was made of the risk created by the presence of asbestos and therefore did not take the steps required in order to comply with the regulations.”

Managing partner of Carrs Solicitors John Carr said: “I don’t think that there are many company bosses who do not understand the very real and very serious risk presented by asbestos so it is disappointing that firms of this size and experience are still cutting corners when it comes to the health and safety of their staff, and potentially their passengers. This case should act as a warning and encourage companies to act on the information provided to them by asbestos surveys and other checks.”

Carrs Solicitors specialises in claims for asbestos industrial disease, accidents in the workplace and other serious injury claims.  Visit www.carrssolicitors.com for more information about making a claim.

Contact Information

John Carr

Director

Carrs Solicitors

(44) 0800 5870746

johncarr@carrssolicitors.com