Micky Steeds, a former professional boxer turned London Underground cleaner, has a message for the millions of people who ride the Tube every day: you might be inhaling more than just the stale air and existential dread. Steeds, who was unfairly sacked after blowing the whistle on asbestos and other toxic dust hazards, wants passengers to know what he discovered while cleaning decades of grime from vents, lift shafts, and those charmingly named 'inverts' - confined channels under platform floors.

Steeds started working for London Underground in 2018, and his job was exactly as glamorous as it sounds. He and his colleagues emerged from shifts looking like chimney sweeps, with dust so thick at Tottenham Court Road that it set off the station's fire alarms. For the first 15 months, Steeds wasn't given a proper protective mask - sometimes he had to make do with paper masks that turned black after use. He only received training on how to handle asbestos after he'd been cleaning asbestos-sheathed cables with stiff vacuum brushes for 19 months. 'We had been smashing it up for nearly two years before we did a course on how not to disturb it,' he told an employment tribunal.

Steeds also raised concerns about hazardous waste disposal, telling a manager in March 2023: 'We're fucking cowboys here, we're dumping hazardous waste in general waste bags.' The tribunal agreed with Steeds, finding that his complaints were protected disclosures under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and that his beliefs were 'genuine and reasonable.' It also found that London Underground had fallen short on hazardous waste disposal, noting that 'the failure to dispose of hazardous waste appropriately may give rise to criminal and civil liability.'

Steeds was sacked in August 2023 after being signed off work with anxiety, given an ultimatum to either retract his complaints or be fired. The tribunal ruled that the principal reason for his dismissal was his whistleblowing. 'I was gutted that it was a reserved judgment because I wanted to see their smug faces in court,' Steeds said, adding that he now avoids the Tube entirely: 'I'd rather get a bus.'

London Underground is planning to appeal, insisting that 'strict controls' are in place to ensure safety. But Steeds isn't buying it, and he's urging the transit authority to safely remove the hazardous material. 'They've got to get rid of the asbestos somehow,' he said. 'It's in the caulking, the cables, the fire doors.' In the meantime, commuters might want to consider holding their breath.