A stonemasons has been fined after two former employees contracted incurable diseases - 18th February 2010

A company has been fined £30,000 after two of its former employees contracted incurable industrial diseases due to safety lapses.

York Crown Court heard how William Anelay Limited, a York-based stonemasons failed to take adequate measures to protect workers and two employees; John Whittaker and David Medley have been left with long-term lung damage as a result.

The two men fell ill after being exposed to uncontrolled levels of respirable crystalline silica. Their condition was exacerbated by the company not insisting on stonemasons wearing face masks, not using water to dampen down stone when it was being cut, not maintaining ventilation systems and not carrying out chest x-rays to detect early signs of lung disease.

The company pleaded guilty at York Crown Court to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The court heard how high levels of airborne silica had been identified as far back as 1994 during a survey of the premises, but the measures taken by the company to protect the workers had not been adequate.

HSE Inspector Julian Franklin said: “The verdict shows that the working practices at William Anelay Ltd were inadequate and dangerous. During the investigation, HSE found that a combination of dry stone cutting with no ventilation or use of protective clothing resulted in the workers breathing in hazardous levels of respirable crystalline silica.”

He stressed that it was vital that employers working with silica-based material such as limestone, cement, mortar and sandstone, took reasonable steps to prevent a similar situation.

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