We worked for Brown and Mason Group as health and safety auditors on Longannet power station, which was the last coal-fired power station in Scotland located near the town of Kincardine in Fife.

The station began generating electricity in 1970, and when it became fully operational it was the largest coal-fired station in Europe; at the time of closure, it was the third largest.
Longannet was named in the WWF 2007 list of Europes 30 most climate-polluting power stations. In absolute terms(most polluting relative to power output) as the 21st most polluting power station in Europe and number 1 in the UK.

According to a 2010 Stuttgart University report commissioned by Greenpeace, on the health impacts of the biggest coal-burning power plants in Europe, it was estimated that Longannet was responsible for 4,210 lost 'life years'; to that point.

This project involves the decommissioning of the former 2,400 megawatts coal-fired power station including a 183-metre chimney, which was operational until 2016. The decommissioning process started in 2018, starting with the coal stock towers being removed. The structural makeup consists of heavily reinforced concrete floors and foundations with heavy steel frames and cladding. 

On the 9th of December 2021, the chimney stack was demolished by an explosive demolition event. The explosives were triggered by the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. Three days before this, Scottish Power had illuminated a slogan on the chimney that read "Make Coal History".

The demolition methods were a mixture of piecemeal method, hot-work preparation, implosion, and progressive fragmentation using a demolition rig from a safe working distance, and clearing and processing the demolition arisings.

PERSES was appointed as Safety Auditors in 2019 and conducted monthly safety audits on-site to ensure the health and safety standards were met, the CDM duties were complied with, and most importantly, the overall safety of the site and the workforce were maintained. 

PERSES then developed bespoke training programmes and carried out skills gaps analysis assessments for the operatives to ensure the level of training was as accurate and as specific to the task as possible.

• Carry out monthly health and safety audits and issue a report.
• Carry out skills gaps assessments of the operatives.
• Deliver training to the site team.