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John Lewis in the Dock

Retailer John Lewis and refurbishment contractor Morris & Spottiswood have been ordered to pay fines totalling £40,000 after both firms failed to carry out proper asbestos checks during work at the retailer’s Edinburgh store.
Officers from City of Edinburgh Council discovered the problems after workers disturbed asbestos-containing materials while refurbishing the office management suite on the top floor of the retailer’s St James Centre department store.
The workers were taking down office and partition walls and did not know there was asbestos in the area. A Morris & Spottiswood employee discovered insulating board that he suspected contained asbestos in the early hours and stopped work.
When John Lewis staff went to collect the board for testing, they went to the wrong place and could not find it. Later in the day, a Morris & Spottiswood supervisor realised the suspect board had not been taken away and he submitted the material for analysis. But work restarted in the area before the tests came back.
When the results, received the following day, showed the suspect board contained amosite (brown asbestos) and chrysotile (white asbestos), Morris & Spottiswood suspended all work.
At Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Sheriff Elizabeth Jarvie fined John Lewis £20,000 after it pleaded guilty to breaching the Control of Asbestos Regulations, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

She also fined Morris & Spottiswood, which specialises in commercial fitouts and house building and refurbishment, £20,000 after it admitted three charges under the Control of Asbestos Regulations.

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