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Asbestos Analyst Guilty of Falsifying Asbestos Tests
30 Mar 2017
An asbestos analyst, Barrie Lyons, has pleaded guilty to breaching the Health And Safety At Work Act 1974 after he falsified test results which put people at risk of being exposed to asbestos.
Exposure to asbestos fibres and dust puts people at risk of developing asbestos related conditions including mesothelioma, a cancer of the pleura, the lining of the lung, lung cancer, pleural thickening, asbestosis and pleural plaques. According to the HSE approximately 5,000 people die from asbestos related conditions each year in the UK.
Mr Lyons provided an asbestos air clearance certificate following licenced asbestos removal on a building site in Manchester in November 2015. It was his responsibility to ensure the necessary samples were taken and tests carried out to ensure the area where the asbestos had been removed from was safe.
The report he produced indicated he had carried out all the necessary tests when he had not according to the HSE investigation.
Mr Lyons was an experience asbestos analyst with nearly 30 years’ experience.
As a result of his actions the report he produced could not be relied upon and the licenced asbestos contractor who had engaged him, had to instruct another analyst to prepare a further report to ensure the area was safe.
Mr Lyons was fined £2000 and ordered to pay costs of £3905.73
HSE inspector Matthew Greenly said after the hearing: “Asbestos analysts play a vital role in ensuring that areas are safe to enter after asbestos is removed. Mr Lyons sadly chose on this occasion to falsify his records which was a massive abuse of the trust placed in him by the client.
This deliberate act increased the risk of numerous people potentially being exposed to asbestos, a risk Mr Lyons would be very well aware of from his experience, all to save a little time and finish the job early.”
Click here for link to HSE Article.
Contact details
Helen Wilson
Telephone: 0161 883 3560
E-mail: helenwilson@thealp.co.uk
Website: www.asbestoslawpartnership.co.uk
FREEPHONE: 0808 164 3730