The Shield Asbestos Removal Cardiff branch were contracted under Willmott Dixon, to undertake asbestos removal and remediation works at Singleton Hospital in Swansea. These removal works were necessary to facilitate planned refurbishment and upgrading works within the hospital wards.

Singleton Hospital overlooks Swansea Bay and hosts a range of services including acute assessment, elderly care, neo-natal intensive care, ophthalmology and ENT. The hospital is also the home of the South West Wales Cancer Institute and an iconic Maggie’s Centre.

As a hospital that has many specialist and critical care services, it was vital that it remain fully operational during these works. Working in a live environment can bring many challenges and even more so in a hospital environment. The logistical location of works was confined to the upper floors of the building and operatives were also required to work within the confined spaces within floor void areas. In addition, there were numerous other, on site trades. As part of the works, Shield operatives worked under both semi and fully controlled conditions to carry out soft stripping of fixtures and fittings. The fully stripping back to the original concrete ‘shell’ of the internal areas of work, such as plaster finished block walls, fixed services, floor tiles, asbestos sprayed coatings, insulation board and pipe insulation. All works were carried out in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR2012), and the Licenced Contractors Guide HSG247.

To ensure the safety of everyone on site, all operatives were required to undertake Willmott Dixon online company inductions prior to gaining site access, ensuring all operatives had up-to-date training for both asbestos related and construction industry standards. Weekly and where necessary, daily programming meetings were also held with the client and the trust to ensure the smooth running of the project. As the hospital remained fully operational throughout the duration of the contract works, it was imperative to regularly monitor the shift patterns and modify them to minimise disruption to the surrounding areas and to hospital staff and patients.

A number of other divisions within Shield were also involved at various stages of the project including Mechanical & Electrical, Insulation and Scaffolding. The initial contracted works comprised of asbestos remedial works within the various wards and floor services voids which were found to be contaminated with sprayed asbestos to all surfaces. These findings led to the requirement of a fully comprehensive mechanical survey, which was carried out by the Shield Mechanical & Electrical division. Having immediate access to this specialist division meant that there were no unnecessary delays caused to the remedial works or to any other subsequent works.

The project ran from December 2018 through to April 2020.