MMC Estates not completed health and safety measures

Danger Asbestos sign

At the recent TBA Working Party meeting Adrian Watson, Rochdale Council’s Chief Environmental Officer said that he was “extremely disappointed” with “a lack of progress” by MMC Estates on interim health and safety measures that “had already been agreed”.

Health and Safety expert Mick Coats, also a member of the TBA Working Party, highlighted the fact that there has been a two year wait for a complete safety fence to surround known asbestos dumps on the Spodden Valley site and appropriate warning signs. 

Last year MMC Estates nailed signs to trees along Woodlands Road. They read “Danger- Keep Out”. The signs don't warn of the specific hazard in this area confirmed in the independent Atkins Reports as a site that contains significant amounts of asbestos waste.   

Mick Coats claims that the approved warning sign for asbestos hazards is more appropriate to warn workers and the public of the asbestos dump sites. Such signs are widely available from sign suppliers.   

He warns: “We have patiently waited over two years for MMC Estates to do simple, common sense interim work. We are still waiting. Council officers are understandably frustrated. What public message does this send out for the full clean up of the whole asbestos factory site?”

In a report to the TBA Working Party, Chief Environmental Officer Adrian Watson explained that appropriate signage for the area “has been designed, but has still to be erected”. 

A spokesman for MMC Estates said: "Signs are only one aspect of a range of workable measures that have been discussed but not yet finalised. To be effective they need to be implemented in a coordinated manner. However, we have employed a highly experienced professional team to look at the broader aspect of issues effecting public health and safety, to develop practical robust and lasting solutions to eliminate risk."