[TVCS]

Hi folks. 
Been doing void cleans for a while now for a local housing association.  Went into the office this morning to hand in invoices etc and was told that a property we cleaned last week, the new tenents moved in on the friday and found a needle floating in the bog.   They are kicking up a fuss about it and trying to claim money / rent against the state of the place. 

I know 100 % that that needle was NOT in the pan when we finished our clean.  The toilet was pretty dirty and the wife spent a good while sorting it out and getting it clean.   At the end of every clean we go round and check everywhere including in the bog to make sure there is nothing that has been missed or not flushed away.   

I told the contracts manager the score and he beleives us and thinks that the new tennants could have placed the needle in the pan to try and get some sort of compensation.    I then phoned the main inspector at the housing assoc and told him aswell.  He said that the new tennants are trouble makers and beleives our work was up to scratch as usual but wants me to sign something to say that there were no needles when we had finished.   

I am unsure what to do now as we did not find any needles but did not actively look for them.  It was not in the works order and we were only contracted to give a good basic clean when the tradesmen had been in and done the work.   If I sign something to say the place was needle free and they find some in the garden or loft space or anywhere, where will I stand?   
Sorry if this post rambles on abit but I'm a tad unsure of where this may lead.    AS of yet we have not taken on any training in this field ( sharps) so feel abit out of our depth.

Thanks for anyone who can offer advice on this

Ant

[mark dew]

might be like a kiddy teaching grandma to suck eggs but i can see your concern about this.
I would think that as long as you phrase your letter right there can be no comeback, so i would write a letter saying a needle wasn't seen.
I would also explain in the letter, that as you are not covered or qualified to handle this type of waste, a syringe being found would have resulted in the affected area being left until you had contacted head office first as this is part of your h&s policy.
This type of waste would then be dealt with by a qualified person in agreement with head office.
good luck
 

[BDCS]

Sign to say that during the basic clean no needles were found and that on leaving no needles were apparent in the toilet as that was an area that needed a particular clean. write a report as you saw it

[darrenbale]

I wouldn't sign to say that the whole property was needle free, I would just limit it to the affected area. A letter statiing that the toilet area was needle free should cover you.
Best bet is to include a copy of the works contract that shows which areas you had cleaned, then even if something turned up in a different area it wouldn't be down to you anyway.

[TVCS]

Thanks for the replies.  i wouldnt sign anyhting to say the whole place was needle free.  I am going to include the S.O.R and its description in the letter and just state that the loo was free from foreign objects.  Did another job for them today and the contracts manager said not to worry as they know our work is always up to scratch and these tennants have tried this trick before, but they just need a letter from us to say it wasnt there when we had finished the job. 

[Collybolly]

Perhaps a bit excessive but you could always walk round with a digicam, film the place( including loo!!) and film yourself locking the door on the way out.  The resulting video will be timestamped and then you can file it away as evidence....just in case.

collybolly

[TVCS]

Spoke to the contracts manager today. 
The tennants have withdrew their claim. 

Ant