For Safe Environment I work with a wide variety of clients, from facilities management to retail, from public buildings to domestic properties. Most often our clients have some knowledge of where they are in terms of asbestos and property compliance, and need some trustworthy support and experienced guidance in getting to where they need to be. On occasion though, we’re called in because something has gone wrong. The overwhelming reason for these situations is as frustrating as it is common:
“High-ho Silver! The cowboys have been in town.”
Last week I attended at what should have been a bright little project, in one of Manchester’s less affluent suburbs. A new charity shop, helping to support initiatives for improving quality of life in the area. A new charity driven by motivated people who wanted to make a difference in their community. Money was short but the dream was strong, so a shop unit was secured: one of the first steps on the new charity’s journey.
Run down and in need of some TLC, refurbishment works on the shop unit were commissioned, but very soon came to a halt. In a situation familiar to many people, asbestos stopped play. An asbestos insulating board ceiling (a 1970s installation) needed to be removed from the sales area before refurbishment works could continue. Enquiries were made, and the fledgling organisation – determined to do the right thing – contemplated the quotes with an air of worry. The fact is that asbestos remediation works are, if done properly, not cheap. For a cash-strapped charity the sums looked insurmountable, and potentially the end of their endeavours.
Almost inevitably, the acquaintance of a friend of a friend appeared, ostensibly well intentioned, offering to help. The removals could be done for 10% of the cost, he said. The licensed contractors had clearly been trying to rip the charity off. The day was saved and the removal work began.
We all know the old adage: “If something seems too good to be true…” Perhaps this should have been heeded by those at the charity. They could be forgiven however, in a pro-enterprise nation that prizes the ‘Big Society’, for taking a route which they felt was the only way to keep the project alive. Project management is a complex job, particularly for the inexperienced and underfunded. The cowboy trader had provided what seemed like valid credentials (although on review he had presented only an Asbestos Awareness Certificate). The charity was as vulnerable a target as the OAP, sat at home, being bombarded by unscrupulous sales calls.
Inevitably, the work was undertaken to a dangerously negligent standard. When I arrived on site I saw how the poor working methods had resulted in massive contamination of the entire premises. All of the generously donated stock, easily enough to get the charity running, was contaminated and will now have to be destroyed. Large areas of the asbestos ceiling remained attached, in far more dangerous condition than before the works started. The client informed me that the asbestos waste (that which hadn’t been strewn across the property), far from being properly disposed of, was dumped in a hired midi skip.
At the point when Safe Environment became involved, the damage had already been done. The charity had been scammed, the refurbishment delayed, and massive decontamination works necessitated which far exceeded the original costs for removal. The skip owner had been landed with the cost of hazardous waste disposal, and the local community robbed (at least temporarily) of an opportunity to improve their lot.
This piece is written primarily as a warning, but also in condemnation of the cowboys who exploit and endanger those who wish to make a difference. My heart went out to the charity worker who showed me round the shop, and her hurt and frustration really angered me. I hope that the perpetrator will be successfully prosecuted, but more importantly that the charity will be able to recover from this setback. We hope that soon, through promoting awareness and effective prosecution of transgressors, the cowboy contractors will be run out of town.
