Amanda Lake

  • amanda lake

    Amanda Lake

    Senior Asbestos Surveyor

    Close

  • You are not just a surveyor, you have the ability to develop yourself.

    What attracted you to the County Council?

    I joined the asbestos team at Hampshire County Council in 2006 as an apprentice Asbestos surveyor. My previous experience prior to working at HCC was as a microbiologist and Helicopter engine chemical cleaner. Both of these roles had some elements of accreditation to them. I decided that I wanted a new challenge and felt that being an asbestos surveyor may be interesting. I felt working at the council would give me an opportunity to help local people and help prevent workplace exposure to asbestos. I also liked the idea of learning new things, and the asbestos industry seemed an interesting thing to learn.

    What is your day to day role like?

    The work over the years has been very varied, I rarely have the same day twice. One day I might be on site auditing someone, the next day training someone, and then the next day discussing with people about restricting access to an area. It can be very challenging but interesting. You are not just a surveyor, you have the ability to develop yourself in a number of areas. I have had the opportunity to lead on large projects, one of which was coordinating surveying all County Council lift shafts across Hampshire to check for asbestos. It has been interesting going to museums and seeing behind the scenes and going to areas that may not have been entered in many years. I coordinate audits across the team, in order to meet our accreditation requirements, and use software that can trend analysis information from these audits. I am currently developing our new asbestos register software, rewriting our procedures and training the staff on how to use it.

    How have you been able to develop?

    What has kept me in the asbestos team is the career progression and the opportunity to learn new things. I have worked my way up from an apprentice to a surveyor and now a senior surveyor. As part of my role as a senior surveyor, I am also the deputy quality manager. Over the years I have gone from having no knowledge of asbestos before starting in this role, to having specific qualifications. I have loved seeing people come into the team like me with no previous knowledge of asbestos and with our support become excellent competent surveyors and analysts.