‘‘ Even at 16 I knew I wanted to do environmental work. I took an environmental science A level, then a degree in environmental protection. This covered waste management, air quality, asbestos, contaminated land and water quality.

At first I thought my future lay in polluted land. It could be a petrol station, for example — they’re notorious. Nine times out of ten the underground storage tanks will leak. You have to find out how far the leakage has gone, what the soil type is and what kind of technique can be used to remediate it.

Then I applied to a couple of environmental recruitment agencies and one of them, W5, got me a job. It was in asbestos, which is a mineral that was used in the construction industry until the 1970s. It was mostly used as insulation and for fire protection.

At the time it seemed to be a wonder material because no one knew the health effects back then.

Unfortunately it causes asbestosis, which is a serious disease which causes scarring of the lungs, lung cancer and mesothelioma, which is cancer of the lining of the chest and lungs.

We do risk assessments on every job. When we’re taking samples we wear masks and sometimes protective suits. Sometimes, if the site is heavily derelict and there’s a high amount of asbestos, we’ll even wear overshoes. There is an element of risk but we audit the health and safety aspects and we know what we’re dealing with.

The job is very varied. I am probably on site three days a week. If there’s a downside, it’s the travelling. But it’s not all the time and you see parts of the country that you wouldn’t otherwise get to see.

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