The City of Edinburgh Council was also fined ВЈ17,600 following the incident at Castlebrae High School in Edinburgh in July 2007.
Both pleaded guilty to charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
Dalkeith Demolition was contracted to remove asbestos-containing material disturbed by another contractor undertaking refurbishment work at the school.
But it was not licensed by the HSE to do such work. Its workers had not been trained so did not take established control measures to minimise the exposure to themselves.
ADVERTISEMENT
HSE principal inspector Jim Skilling commented after the case:
"The City of Edinburgh Council failed to keep an understandable register of asbestos and failed to ensure that a full survey for asbestos was carried out prior to any work starting so the information available was not sufficient to alert persons to the immediate danger from the asbestos.
"In view of the Council's previous experience of managing asbestos, this was a very disappointing incident. Over 4,000 people are dying every year in Great Britain due to the unrecognised exposure to asbestos earlier in their working lives. Legislation came into force in May 2004 which requires the organisation in control of any non domestic premises to identify and assess asbestos in those premises.
"The Council initially failed to identify that asbestos was present and then when it was established that asbestos had been disturbed, they did not ensure that a competent, licensed contractor undertook the work in a satisfactory manner."
Advertisers see bright spot in bleak economy
Bilfinger Berger in Edinburgh Tram cost overruns row
Government’s proposal for banks comes today
