House of Commons staff offered X-rays after asbestos rules breached

The House of Commons has launched ‘new competency checks’ after an asbestos rule breach.

The House of Commons is ‘continuing to support those who have been impacted’ by an asbestos incident in 2021 (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Archive)

House of Commons chiefs have offered staff X-rays at St Thomas’ Hospital after an asbestos breach, once thought to have affected more than 100 people.

The health and safety watchdog has found “material breaches” of asbestos and construction regulations after a probe into works at the Speaker’s on-site accommodation.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirmed “appropriate action” has been taken, and a spokesperson for the legislature promised staff would “continue to learn lessons from this event” and use new contractor competency checks to ensure they have the necessary skills and qualifications to carry out works.

The House of Commons spokesperson said: “We fully accept the findings from the Health and Safety Executive.

“Our absolute priority is the safety of the those who work on and visit the Parliamentary Estate, and we are continuing to support those who have been impacted by the incident in autumn 2021.

“Since then, we have taken a number of actions to minimise the risk of any incidents occurring across the many construction and maintenance projects on the estate, including additional training for operatives, new competency checks and the implementation of an updated escalation process for serious safety incidents on the Estate.

“We have also commissioned an independent asbestos specialist to provide support for teams, who has undertaken a thorough review of our asbestos management arrangements.

“We will continue to learn lessons from this event to ensure our safety processes remain robust.”

The PA news agency understands affected staff were offered information and support which included an appointment with the Commons GP, and a spirometry breathing test or X-ray at St Thomas’ Hospital, which lies opposite the Palace of Westminster on the River Thames’ South Bank.

The House’s own Public Accounts Committee hauled Sir John Benger, former Commons clerk, before them in 2022 to answer questions about the incident.

He explained asbestos was released between October 23 and October 27 2021, but it was not detected until November 19.

It was not formally reported to the HSE until February 10 2022, Sir John said, and he added “potentially 117 staff were in the area”, comprising 81 contractors and 36 staff.

The Speaker had vacated the bedrooms at his on-site accommodation during the fire safety and “other” works.

A watchdog spokesperson said: “We take any incidents where there is a risk of asbestos exposure very seriously.

“Our investigation is now complete and the appropriate action has been taken.”