Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Council to be billed by watchdog over school asbestos health and safety breaches

Bridge of Don Academy.
Bridge of Don Academy.

Aberdeen City Council has been warned it faces a bill for breaching health and safety laws at a secondary school.

The Health and Safety Executive launched an investigation after it emerged 25 members of staff were allowed into Bridge of Don Academy after potentially deadly asbestos was found during works.

On July 12, an apprentice joiner working at the school discovered asbestos behind an insulation board and informed his supervisor, who had it wrapped in plastic and left beside a skip.

A further piece of board – still above the door and intact – was covered using a ceiling tile and cardboard.

But no action was taken to seal off the area and it was five days until a sample was taken.

 

In August, it emerged that up to 25 members of staff accessed the building in the days following the discovery – because a line manager “forgot” to report it.

Now the HSE has ruled Aberdeen City Council breached three health and safety rules: Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 2002 and the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015.

The authority now has until December 20 to respond to the findings of the report.

An HSE spokeswoman said: “HSE can confirm it has today issued a notice of contravention to Aberdeen City Council for contraventions of health and safety law relating to the disturbance of asbestos at Bridge of Don Academy during refurbishment work in the summer.”

Last night union boss Tommy Campbell accused the city council of a “symptomatic of a casual approach to the safety of workers” and called for a full internal investigation.

Asbestos, once a popular building material, is linked to the deaths of around 5,000 workers each year, claiming more lives than motorists involved in accidents on the road

Mr Campbell said: “The report on the asbestos incident at the Bridge of Don Academy is absolutely scathing.

“It’s our belief that the Bridge of Don Academy incident is not a one-off but symptomatic of a casual approach to the safety of workers and the public.

“Aberdeen City Council clearly requires an investigation into its health and safety procedures – whether they are the best placed to do this in light of this evidence is highly debatable to say the least.”

Liberal Democrat education spokesman Martin Greig said: “The lack of action to deal with the danger is a real concern.”