The Northern Echo, Friday 28th September 2007, reported that an inquiry into one of the worst health and safety breaches the region has ever seen could be held behind closed doors, it emerged yesterday.
Staff who may have been affected by asbestos at Woodhouse Close Leisure Complex, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, fear the investigation could become "a whitewash" unless the public are allowed to attend.
Wear Valley District Council is to launch an inquiry to establish why officers ignored a 2001 report that found dangerous asbestos at the council-owned sports centre.
An unknown number of staff were exposed to the cancer-causing materials for five years before it was removed.
The council was fined £18,000 by the Government's Health and Safety Executive and later apologised to the people affected, but it is still not clear why the report was ignored or who was responsible.
Richard Bishop, the inspector who took the council to court after a member of staff contacted the HSE, said the breaches were the worst he had ever seen.
The council's solicitor told the court last month that the senior officers in charge at the time had since left the authority.
To read the full story click on the link below: http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/display.var.1720795.0.asbestos_inquiry_must_be_in_public.php
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