A warning has been issued about asbestos after two construction bosses were sentenced for putting workers at risk while carrying out a £2.4m contract to transform a well-known department store into student flats.
James Keegan, 65, and Alan Barraclough, 51, were both directors of Keebar Construction Ltd when they took on the lucrative job to convert Joplings in Sunderland into student housing in 2017. Newcastle Crown Court heard how the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site in October that year and stopped the construction work after discovering numerous employees had been exposed to the risk of asbestos over a five-month period.
Following a 10 day trial, Keegan and Barraclough were convicted of failing to ensure the health and safety of employees and non employees in relation to exposure to asbestos fibres. The court in Newcastle heard how the employees who were put at risk included their own son's.
