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CLEAN THIS VILE PLACE UP... Waste probe firm worker finds.. CROC
A dead CROC lies discarded inside the HQ of a Scots waste firm being probed
A WHISTLEBLOWER took a photo of a crocodile’s head sticking out of a bin bag at a Scots firm being probed over the disposal of body parts.
The bizarre snap is one of a series of worrying images taken at Healthcare Environment Services’ HQ by the worker, who branded conditions there as “shambolic”.
These show bins full to the brim in a refrigeration unit amid claims of a backlog of material at the firm’s UK sites – though HES claimed the croc was a rubber replica and not part of the waste staff had to handle.
The ex-worker who took the pictures said he was repulsed by the scale of the waste backlog, adding that several other staff had walked out in disgust.
The UK Government have launched an action against the incinerator company over a backlog of amputated limbs at hospitals in England.
The firm are alleged to have stored NHS clinical waste in fridges for too long.
Our source said: “I took the photos as I was so shocked at what was going on. I thought something desperately needed to be done. I left the job quickly when I found out how shambolic the place was.
“Things have probably got even worse since I left. The smell was always pretty bad. I couldn’t believe it when I saw a crocodile or alligator in one of the fridges.
“The place was dealing with all types of human and animal clinical waste. It was vile. The black machine that you can see in the pictures is one of the incinerators. They were useless and could hardly work for 10 minutes before they broke down.
“The piles of waste were growing all the time. I know at least two people who walked out of the job before me.”
The Environment Agency say HES have allowed a backlog to build up at five English sites which deal with clinical waste, including amputated limbs. The incinerator firm, owned by Scots businessman Garry Pettigrew, allegedly allowed waste to be stored in fridges for excessive periods, in breach of licences.
The huge backlog led to the UK Government convening an emergency COBRA meeting last month, chaired by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
The Environment Agency have hit HES, of Shotts, Lanarkshire, with 13 warning notices and two compliance notices in the past year as they’ve not disposed of waste quickly enough.
The whistleblower said of the Shotts depot: “It just wasn’t a good place to work and soon as I was in the door, I just knew I had made a mistake.
“There was always something going wrong with the incinerators. Waste was coming from all over the place but the system just couldn’t cope.”
HES declined to comment on the worker’s claims yesterday but recently stated they’d highlighted the strain on clinical waste services to the Environment Agency.