Criminal prosecutions under asbestos laws triple in a year

• Author:
• Reynolds Porter Chamberlain

Criminal prosecutions brought under the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 more than tripled last year to 37.

In 2003-2004, after the 2002 rules came into force, the HSE launched seven criminal prosecutions. This rose to 12 in 2004-2005, but jumped to 37 in 2005-2006: the most recent year for which statistics are available.

The 2002 rules extended the responsibility for managing asbestos to all workplaces, not just those in “high-risk” industries where workers are ... (376 more words)

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