The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust has been prosecuted by the HSE after it emerged that its workers may have been exposed to asbestos fibres.
It was prosecuted after the fibres were discovered in the basement of its offices at Derwent House, on Liverpool’s London Road, in January 2013.
Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard that it had failed to act on a survey carried out in 2006, which identified that an area of the basement may contain asbestos, and recommended its condition be properly assessed. An HSE investigation found workers had regularly visited the basement to access patient records.
The HSE explained: “The risk came to light on 9 January 2013, when the Trust’s health and safety manager noticed the doors to an out-of-use goods lift were damaged. The lift doors contained asbestos, meaning a risk of exposure to those accessing the basement. A subsequent survey found asbestos fibres present in several different areas of the basement.”
The Trust was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £696 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
