{"id":157889,"date":"2025-12-12T14:46:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=157889"},"modified":"2025-12-12T14:46:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:46:51","slug":"northern-irish-construction-company-fined-unsafe-asbestos-removal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/health-safety-news\/northern-irish-construction-company-fined-unsafe-asbestos-removal\/157889\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Irish construction company fined for unsafe asbestos removal"},"content":{"rendered":"

McGrath Building & Joinery Contracts Ltd was fined by the Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland<\/a> (HSENI) for inadequate measures taken around the deadly material<\/h2>\n

The company pled guilty to a single health and safety offence related to the unsafe removal of asbestos.<\/p>\n

The company was found guilty of breaching Regulation 12(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016.<\/p>\n

The company was fined \u00a3500<\/h3>\n

HSENI investigated the company\u2019s refurbishment works at Sacred Heart Chapel, Boho, Co. Fermanagh, in November of 2023. They found that they had failed in their responsibilities as the principal contractor by not adequately planning, managing, or monitoring the works undertaken from a health and safety perspective.<\/p>\n

This included failure to identify and safely removal licensed asbestos material.<\/p>\n

HSENI construction inspector, Caoimhe O\u2019Neill, said: \u201cPrincipal Contractors have a duty to plan, manage and monitor the construction phase and coordinate matters relating to health and safety to ensure that, so far as reasonably practicable, construction work is carried out without risk to health or safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen using subcontractors, Principal Contractors need to engage with competent contractors for the work task. Principal Contractors have a responsibility to ensure that subcontractors have developed a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and method statement (RAMS) and that they are managing and monitoring subcontractors throughout the construction phase.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asbestos is still a leading cause of death<\/h3>\n

In November last year, High Speed Training released research<\/a> finding that many construction firms are not giving asbestos the required level of respect or concern, and in spite of it being banned 25 years ago, it is still a leading cause of work-related death.<\/p>\n

The study found that:<\/p>\n