The client

Ineos is a global chemical group, comprising 36 businesses with 194 sites in 29 countries. Ineos Grangemouth is an integrated refinery and petrochemicals plant on the banks of the Forth, and it the group’s largest manufacturing site by volume.

The project

Environtec was asked to undertake an initial asbestos demolition survey for Ineos Grangemouth’s G4 ethylene cracker in 2019. During the survey we undertook background and personal asbestos tests, due to the presence of asbestos pipe insulations, residues and debris. In October 2020, we undertook a re-inspection survey.

Key challenges and solutions

The project was challenging for a number of reasons. The site’s location meant that adverse weather conditions were common. There were also chemical and caustic hazards on-site, as well as height restrictions. We also had to plan with the client so that they could arrange suitable access equipment – we were unable to arrange our own as this was a high-risk, industrial site.

Additionally, the client was unable to provide isolation certificates for a number of items within the plant before our survey. This meant that we had to make a number of presumptions within the report, which needed investigating at a later date. We solved the latter problem by agreeing to undertake a follow-up survey when the relevant, complex areas were isolated and safe to access.