"They said they would email me over instructions with what to do for the burning...With that I left Pendleton Together's office and ran back to my flat, which isn't good after a heart attack..."
Edward Murray, of Whitebeam Court in Pendleton, was recovering from two heart attacks and had been told to go for walks as part of his rehabilitation. Last Thursday, he was on his way out of the block but the front door had scaffolding and a barrier around it, so he used the back entrance...
"As I walked out into the car park I felt something on my face that started burning" Edward recalls "There was a man there spraying the wall and I asked him what he was using and he said `Acid'...My face carried on burning and he said `It's probably because your skin's not used to acid', pointed to some water in a tub and told me to rinse my face. It was a large tub and I couldn't pick it up as I'd just had my heart attack, so I rubbed a bit on my face but it carried on burning."
Edward went back to his flat and repeatedly washed his face but the burning continued, so he decided to go to the Pendleton Together office at Brotherton House, opposite Salford Precinct, where workers from Keepmoat, the on-site contractor, and Pendleton Together, the project management company, came out to see him and were less than helpful...
"They took me in a room and said `All we can do is apologise'" he adds "No offer of first aid, no `Do you want us to take you to hospital? Or do you want us to ring you an ambulance or a taxi?' Nothing. They asked for my email address and said they would email me over instructions with what to do for the burning. With that I left Pendleton Together's office and ran back to my flat, which isn't good after a heart attack."
The burning persisted so Edward got himself a taxi and went to Salford Royal Hospital, where staff eventually transferred him to Wythenshawe Hospital's special burns unit for treatment. He was kept in overnight, treated for burns from hydrochloric acid, and discharged the following day with medication and instructions to keep clear of the sun to avoid further damage to his skin.
As he was originally in a hurry to get to hospital, Edward had gone out wearing only a t-shirt and with £10 in his pocket, £5 of which he had already spent on a taxi to Salford Royal...
"I could only afford a £4 bus to Manchester and then had to walk to Salford in the heavy rain" he recalls "I got home and from then until now I'm still wondering if I'm going to have another heart attack because of the stress. Pendleton Together has not even contacted me to see how I am or to see if I need anything. They've never been near. I'm disgusted."
While Keepmoat staff have been to see Edward, the company's health and safety procedures are sure to come in for major scrutiny. An official note given to Edward states that the worker who was spraying the wall should have had a canister containing a solution to dilute the acid, to be applied within sixty seconds. This certainly didn't happen. Neither were there any notices warning tenants that dangerous solutions were being sprayed on walls next to an entrance.
"I have grandchildren" says Edward "What would have happened if I'd have walked out with them?"
Jamie, who runs the Whitebeam Community Action Group, has been battling with Pendleton Together since the refurbishment of the blocks began as part of a £650million thirty year PFI scheme.
"We've requested health and safety details about four times with no response, and when we try and bring up safety issues with Pendleton Together they don't respond...and I've been labelled a `habitual, vexatious and abusive' person" he explains
"...Yet we've had to call ambulances for two tenants who needed oxygen because of the dust during the work on the flats...We had to save one worker when he nearly killed himself walking off a gantry...health and safety came and closed all gantries for three days" he adds "There's been four tenants hospitalised just off this block. This is a refurbishment not a war! I think contractors are cutting corners with health and safety because they are running out of money."
Indeed, the Salford Star has seen requests for risk assessment documents going back over a year, sent to Pendleton Together and copied to Salford Council which is ultimately responsible for the Pendleton regeneration.
The Star asked Hilda Palmer of the Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, an independent organisation which gives information and advice on health and safety, for her opinion....
"What I've heard sounds horrendous, and as if there's not proper health and safety procedures in place for tenants and workers" she said "I would be asking serious questions of Pendleton Together and Salford City Council as to how they've let a situation like this to develop..."
Meanwhile, a Pendleton Together spokesman told the Salford Star "Unfortunately, one of our tenants, Mr Murray, was accidently sprayed in his face with a cleaning agent while work was being undertaken on the exterior of his property at Whitebeam Court. We would like to apologise to Mr Murray for the distress and upset this incident has caused him. We are aware that Mr Murray visited the Pendleton Together office soon after the incident took place. Pendleton Together staff did advise Mr Murray to seek medical attention which later took place at hospital.
"We take any incidents on site extremely seriously and treat our residents' well-being as a top priority" he added "An urgent and detailed investigation is taking place into the causes of the injuries sustained by Mr Murray and this will be considered by Pendleton Together in due course."
• There have been a whole array of problems during the Pendleton Together refurbishment of the towerblocks, ranging from the unaffordable NIBE energy system (see here) to tenants left in `bombsites' during refurbishment of their properties (see here).
For a full background of the Pendleton PFI also see the `Pendleton Untogether' article in the latest print issue of the Salford Star page 20 – click here
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