‘Having just completed a BSc Hons in Biochemistry I was fortunate to be offered a summer placement at Cognition. 

 For my first week, I was shadowing Tomaz Vernick at several different sites. We went to Barking Tunnels, Compton, and Bethnal Green. This was an opportunity for me to see the operations at each site and to find out what Tomaz does when he visits them. This week was full of travelling and allowed me to see the different stages that each work site was at. As well as this, I was able to see how the effects of the works on the environment are monitored, for example, dust and noise monitoring. 

For my second and third weeks, I was stationed at Bethnal Green. I was assisting Reece Coley and Mark Hosking with administrative work whilst also observing the works taking place in and around the old gas holder frames. I spent most of my time compiling information for the Friday packs. This included equipment registers for work and lifting, weekly plant and equipment inspections, daily briefing sheets from throughout the week, supervisor safety inspections, toolbox talks, temporary work inspections, fuel receipts, subcontractor hours and noise and dust monitoring results. I also completed a drainage inspection worksheet, appliances register, comprehensive testing of concrete cubes spreadsheet, and import-export logs. Assisting Reece and Mark with these tasks has shown me the amount of administrative work that goes into working on a site. 

For my fourth and fifth weeks, I was stationed at the Barking cooling water tunnels site. Here, I was conducting water height dips three times a day, at each bore hole on site. I also assisted in drafting a register of an environmental permit for the site. The water height in the tunnels would change throughout the day. This was due to the grout that was being poured into the tunnels, as well as the change in tide over the day. 

I am very grateful to Cognition for the experience this work has given me. Thank you to all the staff who gave up their time to show me their work.'

James Skerritt