GLASGOW'S health board has been fined £6000 for putting staff and contractors at risk of exposure to potentially deadly asbestos.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde admitted breaching asbestos control regulations by having the poisonous fibres in a basement plant room of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard it led to workers and contractors being exposed to the asbestos.

A court heard that a survey in February 2009 had identified the presence of "asbestos containing materials" in several locations in the plant room and noted that they were in good condition and presented a low risk.

The survey recomm-ended the material should be labelled and its condition monitored so future deterioration could be managed.

But the condition of the material changed, a fact discovered during another survey in January 2011.

This found that some of the asbestos cont-aining material was in a poor condition and now posed "a high risk".

The safety survey recommended removal and environmental cleaning of the area.

Air and swab samples for asbestos fibres came back positive, the plant room was then sealed off and the matter reported to the Health and Safety Executive.

Its investigation found that the health board had taken no action since the 2009 survey to monitor the asbestos.

No labelling of the substance had taken place and nothing had been done over the following two years to maintain the materials.

After the court case concluded, HSE Inspector Eve Macready, said: "The dangers posed by the presence of asbestos are clear.

"Glasgow health board failed in its duty to properly manage the risks of asbestos and a number of employees and external contractors have potentially been exposed to harmful fibres."

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: "We accept that in this instance our robust asbestos procedures fell short of the standards.

"We have taken rigorous action to reinforce our asbestos procedures including reviewing our policy.

"We have also created a dedicated post, which is currently being advertised, to ensure our asbestos procedures are fully adhered to."

ewan.fergus@ eveningtimes.co.uk