Asbestos News

Workers at a hospital in the UK accidentally drilled into asbestos-containing tiles, causing £150,000 in damage and shutting down parts of the hospital for six weeks.

The contract workers from NUTEC Security Systems Ltd., which included two trainees under 18 years old, had been hired by the National Health Service to install a security system at Isebrook Hospital, according to the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph.

After the workers drilled into the asbestos ceiling tiles, it cost £50,000 to cleanup the damage and an additional £100,000 of renovations had to be undertaken as a result. In addition, the closures required by the asbestos disturbance upset the schedules of more than 3,000 patients.

The Health and Safety Executive fined all the parties involved a total of £9,400 as a result of the asbestos-handling infractions.

"The lack of planning meant that there was potential for workers and members of the public to be exposed to asbestos," HSE inspector Karl Raw told the news source. "There’s no way of knowing the extent of the exposure as work in some areas had been completed and cleaned before the potential exposures were uncovered."

Asbestos exposure can cause malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer.