Crossrail Complaints
Request ID: FOI-3165-1819
Date published: 17 April 2019
You asked
Revised request FOI-2688-1819:
Can we now narrow the search criteria down to just 2 sites and in a 12 month period from December 2017- December 2018
Could I have the below information for Paddington station and fisher street shaft.
1. Any and all information surrounding the complaints and concerns raised by the workforce employed on Crossrail subsurface Stations, shafts and tunnels with regards to the air quality and exposure monitoring on the project. Please include, all observations raised about the atmospheric conditions through various company and joint venture observation card systems.
2. Any and all records of incidents relating to the air quality / atmospheric testing / exposure monitoring on the project. To include records of instances and particulars of any monitoring / alarm devices sounded, as is required under HASAWA, COSHH regulation.
3. Any and all records of atmospheric testing equipment and exposure monitoring throughout the project. To include make and model of equipment used. Accurate Positions and time periods for individual monitoring devices. What the individual monitors tested for. Calibration certs of equipment used. Service and maintenance records of equipment used. Any and all records of faulty equipment including records when exposure monitoring equipment was turned off.
4. Any and all records of evacuations that have taken place due to atmospheric conditions and exposure monitoring throughout Crossrail subsurface stations, shafts and tunnels. To include any Riddor incidents associated.
5. Any and all RAMS and recordings of significant findings associated with the atmospheric conditions and exposure monitoring on Crossrail subsurface stations, shafts and tunnels.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-3165-1819
Thank you for your revised request received on 19 February 2019 asking for information about Paddington Station and the Fisher Street shaft.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and TfL’s information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.
However, although you have already narrowed your request, given the extent of the information you are looking for, we are again applying Regulation 12(4)(b) as we believe that the request is still ‘manifestly unreasonable’ as providing the information you have requested would impose unreasonable costs on us and require an unreasonable diversion of resources.
You have refined your request to information about Paddington Station and the Fisher Street shaft for December 2017 – December 2018. However, to answer your current request would still take an excessive amount of staff time and resources. Your request is for ‘any and all’ information about several aspects of the atmospheric conditions at these two locations. The potentially relevant information which we hold comprises of hundreds of potentially relevant emails, all of which would have to be reviewed, along with many other documents held in various separate storage systems. As previously advised, this information is held by numerous people, all of which would have to be located and collated, to some extent at least, to answer your request.
Given the time it would take to respond to your previous requests, if you have specific questions rather than requests for any and all information, then we may be able to process these more easily.
The use of this exception is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to consider whether the public interest in applying the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. We recognise that the release of information would promote accountability and transparency in public services and also help address your particular concerns about this issue. However, the time it would take to provide the information you have requested would divert a disproportionate amount of our resources from its core functions and on balance we consider that the public interest currently favours the use of the exception. We are also meeting the Trade Unions next week to discuss these issues further so any concerns they have can be raised.
Crossrail is committed to reducing particulate emissions from construction machinery as part of its Environmental Minimum Requirements. More information on the work that has been done regarding air quality is available on the Crossrail website:
https://learninglegacy.crossrail.co.uk/learning-legacy-themes/environment/air-quality/
As previously advised, we will consider your request again, if you are able to narrow its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[email protected]
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