Profile

I live in Hamphsire and I work from home – even before Covid-19.

Working from home suits me as I get more time at home with the family. It is also good for the environment.

In my spare time I am a Group Scout Leader with a local Scout Group – i have been a leader 25 years.

I am also a triathlete with a local club.

In my previous job I covered jobs all over the UK and drove lots of miles every year.  I think I have stopped at every motorway service station in the UK at some time.

I started as a consultant learing about soils and chemicals within them. After a while I became a contractor using machines and science to clean soil and groundwater – this was the best for me as lots of practical science and engineering. I even learned to drive a digger and a dumper!

Now I work for the largest new build insurance in the UK – the NHBC – I check other contractors calculations to make sure they are right before we insure the new buildings.  This protects the home owners from potentially contaminated soils.

I mainly review technical reports from customers and their environmental consultants dealing with soil and groundwater issues.

These can be simple sites where no work is required to very complex site that were previously used for manufacturing or other contaminating uses.  Where they are complex a lot of time is needed to assess the reports and I will often visit these sites to look at them and see what they look like – rather than just look at maps.

I also assess proposals for treatment of gases generated by the ground.  These gases can explode or can cause people to faint depending on the gas.  We check the design of the house and the gas protection to keep people safe.