30 Years - AA Woods

30 Years of AA Woods

A look at the our own highlights alongside some wider cultural moments.

1994

It’s 22nd July 1994. “Love is All Around” by Wet Wet Wet is in its 12th week as UK number 1 and the nation is begging for relief. Meanwhile, in South Woodford, Essex, AA Woods begins its existence. 30 years later, AA Woods is going as strong as ever and Wet Wet Wet are a distant memory. Good news all around. That same year an online book selling business called “Amazon” was launched. We’re not sure what became of them.

2000

In a blur of innovation the following few years saw the DVD appear, Dolly the sheep was cloned, Wi-Fi became publicly available, Google launched, and the first Blackberry was released. We broke new ground too by becoming ‘Investors In People’ accredited, the first asbestos company to achieve this.

2003

Jonny Wilkinson’s last minute drop goal has won the Rugby World Cup for England. David and Tara Petri experienced their own personal glory by acquiring AA Woods and are still knocking it out of the park 21 years later.

2010

And as the world’s tallest building reached for the stars in Dubai in 2010, we secured our own towering achievement: an 8 year, £15m contract to remove all asbestos from Glan Clwyd Hospital in Rhyl, the largest hospital in North Wales.

2014

Gangnam Style hit 2 billion views, but we had our eyes on a different prize, opening a further regional office in Wellington, near Taunton to service the growing demand in the South-West of England and rubber-stamping 2014 as a giant step forwards, AA Woods Style.

2015

As Jeremy Clarkson was driving away from the Top Gear studio for the last time, we were climbing into our brand new electric vehicles that now form a significant part of our fleet.

2017

And not to be outdone by Elon Musk; while he was launching the Tesla Model 3, we went Carbon Neutral.

2019

Greggs sent shockwaves through the UK, and no doubt more than a few of our Operatives, by launching a vegan sausage roll. We stuck to what we know best and celebrated our Silver Jubilee year.

2021

In the ensuing two years, India got bigger, surpassing the population of China, the US saw record breaking heatwaves, and a Cargo ship got stuck in the Suez Canal at the very moment we completed the merger of our Cardiff and Wellington offices, relocating them into one larger more central office in Bristol.

Happy 30th birthday to us!

Which brings us up to 2024 and 30 years of AA Woods. So much has happened since July 22nd 1994, to AA Woods and people all over the world. We’re just glad to still be doing what we do, better and better each year and benefitting as many people as we can.

Asbestos - The Facts

Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous material regularly used in building work from the 1950’s up until the late 1990’s. Any building built or refurbished before the year 2000 may contain asbestos. Asbestos was often used as an insulation and fireproofing material and is regularly found in products such as ceiling tiles, pipe insulation, boilers, sprayed coatings and garage roofs. There are three main types of asbestos, chrysolite (white), amosite (brown), and crocidolite (blue).

Removing asbestos is particularly dangerous as the fibres become harmful when disturbed and released into the atmosphere. The risk of releasing these dangerous fibres is particularly high without proper training, equipment and control measures. If handled incorrectly and inhaled these fibres can cause serious asbestos related diseases. It can take as little as 10 years and up to 50 years to develop these diseases depending on exposure. Asbestos exposure causes 5,000 deaths every year, vastly more than the number of people killed on UK roads.

Technology

We operate a cloud-based business platform that standardises the way our staff undertake business critical tasks, providing them with the necessary tools to aid them in completing their job more efficiently. Each Site Team is assigned a ‘tablet’ handheld device which allows them to access all work instructions and relevant documentation required for the task. This platform streamlines the management of asbestos contract processes and adherence to sector legislation.

Planned and responsive works such as risk assessments, re-inspections, asbestos removal and containment are effectively scheduled and managed. The system digitally deploys compliance checklists and records key data on ACM’s, air testing, waste consignment, exposure rates, H&S, staff training and sustainability. A centralised management dashboard allows multiple sites to be monitored in real time and records of scheduled works are updated instantly.

Skills and Training

We recognise the value and importance of providing opportunities to staff to develop their job related knowledge and skills and expect that with development and training, individual effectiveness and motivation will increase.

All our staff are continuously assessed through audit and competency checks carried out by our Compliance Team, Managers and Site Supervisors. This information is gathered to enable us to produce a relevant training needs analysis (TNA) programme delivered using our state of the art training facility, ensuring all individuals’ needs are met.

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