Blakeney Leigh Limited are a multi-disciplinary property and construction company who provide London Borough of Greenwich with structural services. We were appointed by Blakeney Leigh to provide specialist asbestos surveying services on a former power station located on a London Crossrail site, which is a restricted access environment. The building is undergoing a refurbishment by London Borough of Greenwich.
The Challenge
As we were sub-contracted by Blakeney Leigh on behalf of London Borough of Greenwich, turnaround times were essential as our final report was to be a part of a larger feasibility study by Blakeney Leigh. We were given the KPI of a three-week turnaround, from mobilisation to final report.
These tight timescales meant that mobilisation had to be as efficient as possible without hindering quality or health and safety of any staff member. As the power station is located on a Cross rail site, we had to adhere to strict Crossrail policies and procedures. As a RISQs certified organisation, we understand the importance of adhering to such procedures to ensure the highest health and safety when completing the surveys. In order to work on site, all on site staff were required to wear personal protective equipment which was compliant to the European standard EN 471 as well as the railway group standard GO/RT 3279.
This included GO/RT 3279 approved hi visibility orange trousers, jacket, boots, helmet, eye protection and gloves. Crossrail also had their own specific requirements regarding any vehicle involved with the project and in particular, on site. This included the fitting of Fresnel lenses, which are visual devices to cover blind spots on vehicles; side-scan detection and warning systems, among others. The site itself is challenging due to its high level elements; the former powerhouses are around 20 meters high and so we utilise mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) to reach the ceilings and higher areas to conduct our inspections.
All staff undergo training and refresher training before the commencement of any contract. We use our site specific risk assessments to identify any further training required and as a result, we enrolled all surveyors working on site to complete full MEWP training before beginning any works.
Due to the age of the building, and former industrial use as a domestic waste incinerator to generate power, the presence of residual asbestos was highly likely, and therefore our survey team focused particularly on any such ACMs which may be disturbed during the proposed development.
Our Achievements
We completed an effective mobilisation within a tight timeframe in order to begin and successfully complete full surveyor, site-specific training. We completed all site work within five working days and turned the final report around in 9 working days, which met with our client’s KPI of returning the report within three weeks.
