A shop fitting company has been fined after five workers were exposed to potentially deadly asbestos fibres at the Arndale Centre in Manchester.

Eastern Regional Shopfitters Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after it ignored a report which stated asbestos was present in a shop it was working on.

Two workers spent five days ripping out old shop fittings in October 2009 before they discovered that asbestos had been used in some of the ceiling panels. Another three management staff at the Arndale Centre were also potentially exposed to the fibres during routine checks on the work.

Eastern Regional Shopfitters admitted three breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and one of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £4,000 at Trafford Magistrates' Court.

Mark Green, 45 from Cambridge, was one of the two shop fitters to be exposed to asbestos fibres. He said:

"It plays on my mind. I am more aware of the possibility I may become ill and that my life has unwittingly been put on the line.

"I hope that companies in the construction industry, no matter what their size, now begin to take asbestos more seriously. They should put everyone who works for them on asbestos awareness courses because workers need to be more aware.

"When I go on a job now, the first question I ask is 'Have you done an asbestos report?' and then, if it is present, 'What will your actions be?'."
 

Source: HSE