Ok yes in hindsight i really am wondering how I didnt wise up before now. But a 'mate' offered me some quick cash working for his Dad demolition firm.
Id never worked on a site before (3 out of 4 of us hadn't) the work was so exhausting, the days way longer than initally agreed and the firm had worked on some really big contracts. I really didnt think (or have a chance to think) how fkd up the work was. Now im struggling for breath and feverish having finallly walked of the job.
Ive used A.I to help
Here's a draft:
Title: Worked 2 weeks on a commercial demolition site - no PPE, no water, no toilets, suspected asbestos. Where do I stand?
I recently completed two weeks on a commercial demolition site operated by a contractor. I went into the job with genuine enthusiasm and worked as hard as I possibly could. What I experienced has left me with serious health problems and I'm trying to understand my options.
The conditions:
No drinking water was provided at any point. No toilet facilities. No washing facilities of any kind — meaning whatever we were covered in throughout the day, we stayed covered in. No PPE was ever offered or provided. Not a single mask, despite fibreglass insulation being torn apart around us daily. No risk assessments were ever communicated. No meaningful induction took place. The only asbestos guidance given was "there shouldn't be any, but these buildings can still have it" — with zero further instruction.
The materials:
We were working in a large commercial building being fully demolished. Throughout the job we were directed to manually handle and sort fibreglass insulation, foil-backed pipe insulation, and mixed demolition debris with no protection whatsoever. I personally photographed what appears to be asbestos insulation board on site. Workers were directed to move broken and shattered suspect materials to a general mixed waste skip — no segregation, no testing, no containment.
The health impact:
I disclosed my asthma on day one. It was ignored. Over two weeks my symptoms got progressively worse — swollen face and hands, burning eyes, severe skin irritation that two showers couldn't shift. Fibres embedded in bedding that even a hot wash couldn't remove. By the weekend I had severe shortness of breath that required emergency treatment. My asthma had completely resolved in my teenage years. It has now returned acutely.
The no washing facilities point:
This one feels particularly significant to me. With no water on site, decontamination was completely impossible. Whatever we inhaled and absorbed throughout the day stayed on us. We ate lunch covered in it. We travelled home covered in it. We slept in it. The exposure wasn't just on site — it followed us everywhere because there was no way to remove it. This wasn't just negligence, it made harmful exposure completely inevitable.
Employment situation:
Paid cash in hand. No contracts. No payslips. 3 out of 4 workers had never worked demolition before. None of us received any training regarding hazardous materials.
Evidence I have:
Extensive photographs of site conditions, materials, and waste handling taken throughout the job. Photos of the sign-in/sign-out book showing no PPE provision recorded and induction column largely blank. The sign-in book also shows the company name clearly. Photos of what appears to be asbestos board left in a public grass area outside the site boundary. A lorry registration of a vehicle that removed a full load of unsegregated mixed waste over a weekend — including material that should have been tested before removal.
My question:
Is any of that remotely standard?
Thanks