Government plans to scrap Working at Height Regs
The Government is planning to scrap the UK’s Work at Height Regulations at the end of 2023 unless ministers in Westminster can be convinced to rescue them.
The Government is poised to scrap the Working at Height Regulations and over 2,400 other laws and regulations at the end of 2023 following the UK leaving the European Union.
The Revocation and Reform Bill which is currently being passed through Parliament seeks to remove EU-derived laws that remain on the UK statute book following Brexit.
The Bill proposes to remove many laws that are entwined with the EU and the Working at Height Regulations is just one of them. Others set for the chop include the Manual Handling Operations Regulations and Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations.
Scaffolding firm brings Christmas magic to Blackpool
Teal Scaffold has joined forces this festive season with charity, HiS Church to provide Christmas donations.
The duo collaboratively provided hundreds of Christmas advent calendars to the much-loved, Grange Youth Community Hub.
North-West-based Teal Scaffold was delighted to support the local community they’ve been working in this Christmas through the support of their latest donation.
The donation has provided much-needed Christmas cheer as families this winter face the looming cost-of-living crisis.
Teal Scaffold will continue to provide high-quality services over the coming weeks for their clients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Head of Operations at Teal Scaffold, Dan McGregor said: “We are committed to creating opportunities and changing lives in the communities we serve. While not a huge expense to some, an advent calendar may be considered a luxury item for families in financial difficulty and struggling to pay their bills.
As prices continue to rise, households across the North West are unfortunately preparing for a challenging festive period. It’s my hope that by our donation and working with local charities in Blackpool, we are able to restore some festive cheer.”
Groundwork CLM Development Manager, Cath Powell MBE added: “We are absolutely delighted to receive these wonderful Advent Calendars which will be distributed to the families of Grange Park by Father Christmas at our special Christmas Event where every child gets to visit Father Christmas in his beautiful grotto for free.
This added gift for the families will make their visit very special”.
The scaffolding firm, proudly part of The Sovini Group, made all this festive cheer possible thanks to donations from HiS Chuch Charity and The Grange Youth Community Hub.”
Groundwork CLM Development Manager, Cath Powell MBE added: “We are absolutely delighted to receive these wonderful Advent Calendars which will be distributed to the families of Grange Park by Father Christmas at our special Christmas Event where every child gets to visit Father Christmas in his beautiful grotto for free.
This added gift for the families will make their visit very special”.
The scaffolding firm, proudly part of The Sovini Group, made all this festive cheer possible thanks to donations from HiS Chuch Charity and The Grange Youth Community Hub.” Training gap filled with over £10M of free courses
CITB has awarded contracts to the value of £10.5m, to four UK-wide training organisations which will provide 10,500 free ILM leadership and management courses to all sectors of the construction industry.
The industry has called for management and leadership skills to support them with the existing and future challenges, and this is backed by research undertaken by CITB which has highlighted gaps being faced in the industry.
This has included insight that shows management training and supervisory training has been in decline since 2017.
The contracts have been awarded to companies in England, Scotland and Wales. The OM Group Corporation Ltd will provide training across Scotland, Wales and the South of England.
The South of England contract is shared with Danny Sullivan and Sons Ltd and MKC Training Services Ltd.
The North of England provision will also be shared by the National Construction College and The OM Group Corporation Ltd.
Tim Balcon, CITB Chief Executive, said: “Providing these training opportunities is in direct response to feedback from industry that their workforce isn’t equipped with the essential Leadership & Management skills they need. The problem is worsened by the lack of financial investment in these essential skills to develop their workforces for the here and now and for the future.
“This investment is regionally focused as we look at localising support and solutions right across Britain. There is no one size fits all approach.
“We are also developing the capacity and capability of construction training provision by making it easier to access training which will support SME’s who may not have the resource to spend time researching a crowded training market for the right courses for their needs.”
The Leadership & Management Direct delivery commission will provide free of charge training to front-line managers, Site Supervisors and Site Managers. This will be in the form of 5 ILM modules leading to an ILM level 3 award or certificate in Leadership and Management Practice for the Construction and Built Environment Sector.
In accordance with UK government procurement regulations this commission will address social value. It will tackle workforce inequalities, increase supply chain resilience and capacity, and support educational attainments to address skills gaps and provide recognised qualifications.
Brogan Group Launch Santa’s Football Runner Game
The Scaffolding and Powered Access Contractor Brogan Group, are running a Christmas Game this December where players have a chance to win £150 in Amazon Vouchers and Brogan Group will match entries with donations to the Charity Barnardo’s.
Following on from its game last Christmas the Brogan Group is rerunning its Christmas Game this December where players in the UK and Ireland have a chance to win £150 in Amazon Vouchers operating a Football kicking Santa.
This year the amount Brogan Group are donating per player per week has doubled to £2 to its chosen Charity, which this year is Barnardo’s.
Barnardo’s protect, support, and nurture the UK’s most vulnerable children. Last year Barnardo’s worked with partners to support over 373,000 children, young people, parents and carers across the UK and Ireland. More about Barnardo’s. https://www.barnardos.org.uk/
You can play the game at Www.brogangroup.com it will run until the 22nd of December
Scaffolding Championships Goes Global
The third Scaffolding Championships is now set to be a global event after more teams from around the world including the UK sign up to compete.
The growing scaffolding event which is held in the city of Vilnius in Lithuania each year has so far attracted 13 teams of scaffolders from around the world to compete in next year’s competition.
Registration for the 2023 Scaffolding Championship is still currently open but the event organisers The Baltic Scaffolding Association have revealed that teams from Australia, Mongolia and now the UK have registered and are also set to attend.
Previous years have seen mostly European teams go head-to-head in a series of timed system scaffolding build-offs using the Layher Allround system.
This year’s event which saw defending champions Hotrema retain its champion status proved popular with those attending and those watching online. The organisers said that more than 120,000 people from around the world tuned in to the event’s live steam on YouTube and its social media networks.
Next year’s Scaffolding Championships will be held on 26 – 27th May 2023. Teams of scaffolders from countries currently registered are Lithuania, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Mongolia, Australia, Bulgaria and the UK.
A spokesperson for The Baltic Scaffolding Association said “Although this year’s Championship was very popular, we didn’t expect so much interest for our event next year. Its grown so much that we have had to expand it to allow the registration for 3 extra teams to a total of 15.
Our 2023 Championship will again be live-streamed with translation for those that cannot attend but this time we are expecting to make it more interesting and interactive for viewers.”
If you are interested in competing in the event next year you can register at https://scaffchamp.com/
Next year’s Scaffolding Championships will be held on 26 – 27th May 2023. Teams of scaffolders from countries currently registered are Lithuania, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Mongolia, Australia, Bulgaria and the UK.
A spokesperson for The Baltic Scaffolding Association said “Although this year’s Championship was very popular, we didn’t expect so much interest for our event next year. Its grown so much that we have had to expand it to allow the registration for 3 extra teams to a total of 15.
Our 2023 Championship will again be live-streamed with translation for those that cannot attend but this time we are expecting to make it more interesting and interactive for viewers.”
If you are interested in competing in the event next year you can register at https://scaffchamp.com/ New ONS figures shows suicide in construction on the rise
Shocking new data from the ONS reveals that workers in construction are now nearly FOUR times more likely to take their own lives compared to other sectors in 2021.
The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity has been the first to share what these figures mean for our construction community and what is being done to help address these shocking figures.
Since the Stevenson/Farmer report in 2017, the charity has been working with Professor Billy Hare at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) to analyse the number of suicides in construction occupations so they have a better understanding where to focus preventative measures to support the industry.
The number of suicides attributed to construction occupations in 2021 was 507, most of which are male (503). This figure constitutes a rise of 24 from the previous year and 25 more than the previous five year average and equates to 34 per 100,000 in employment. This is the highest rate since analysis of this data began at GCU.
The research identified that the number of suicides in construction rose from 26 to 34 per 100,000 in the seven years to 2021. It is often quoted that suicides within construction are three times that of the national industry average. Unfortunately, that figure is now nearer four times, meaning that workers in construction are nearly four times more likely to take their own lives compared to other sectors in 2021.
Professor Billy Hare of GCU said “Whilst it is unwise to react to a single year’s figures, the long-term rate of suicides is regrettably on an upward trajectory for those working in the construction industry, despite all the good work being done in recent years. This means we need to dig deeper to find and address the true root causes, and take collective action sooner rather than later.”
The summary table below shows the findings between occupational groups. In summary, every category has shown a significant increase since 2015.
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity said, “Over 87% of our construction workforce are male and over 50% of the sector is made up of self employed, agency staff or zero hour contract workers. Financial insecurity is a major factor for poor wellbeing in our workforce and the pandemic added greater anxiety and emotional burden.
The industry and charities like ours have made huge strides in recognising and delivering programmes to improve wellbeing but the results from 2021 simply galvanise our resolve to do more. Our messages of support are not reaching the boots on the ground. We all have a moral responsibility and an economic imperative to work together to improve the wellbeing and welfare or our workers.”
The industry is doing more than ever to recognise and address this major issue and the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has asked the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity and Mates In Mind Charity to work together to co-chair a major project to improve wellbeing and welfare within construction along with initiatives to accelerate universal culture change to reduce stigma, break down barriers and increase awareness of support services.
This major initiative called Make It Visible will look to unite the CITB, HSE, Supply Chain School, trade and professional bodies, clients and contractors to formulate and execute a plan of action with key deliverables and measurement to drive the change necessary to improve the wellbeing of our workforce and ultimately reduce the suicides in our industry.
In January 2023 the industry will be invited to a presentation of a study conducted by GCU looking at all the research and industry best practice on wellbeing over the last two years. The participants will be asked to vote on the priorities for the Make It Visible initiative to work on.
Sarah Meek, Managing Director of Mates in Mind said “These latest statistics demonstrate that we need to do more as an industry to prevent people reaching the point of crisis, by addressing the causes that negatively impact on one’s mental health and thereby reduce the need for safety nets.
There is much that we can do around prevention and employers should be encouraged to view their responsibility around this across their total workforce including their supply chain who, from our research earlier this year, have shown to be working with severe levels of anxiety. With positive moves already beginning which sees mental health starting to feature in frameworks, we must continue building on this and encourage conversations around how contracts are both procured and awarded to address some of the factors that can have such a detrimental effect.”
The full report can be downloaded here : Construction project risk & value management | Glasgow Caledonian University | Scotland, UK (gcu.ac.uk)
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity said, “Over 87% of our construction workforce are male and over 50% of the sector is made up of self employed, agency staff or zero hour contract workers. Financial insecurity is a major factor for poor wellbeing in our workforce and the pandemic added greater anxiety and emotional burden.
The industry and charities like ours have made huge strides in recognising and delivering programmes to improve wellbeing but the results from 2021 simply galvanise our resolve to do more. Our messages of support are not reaching the boots on the ground. We all have a moral responsibility and an economic imperative to work together to improve the wellbeing and welfare or our workers.”
The industry is doing more than ever to recognise and address this major issue and the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has asked the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity and Mates In Mind Charity to work together to co-chair a major project to improve wellbeing and welfare within construction along with initiatives to accelerate universal culture change to reduce stigma, break down barriers and increase awareness of support services.
This major initiative called Make It Visible will look to unite the CITB, HSE, Supply Chain School, trade and professional bodies, clients and contractors to formulate and execute a plan of action with key deliverables and measurement to drive the change necessary to improve the wellbeing of our workforce and ultimately reduce the suicides in our industry.
In January 2023 the industry will be invited to a presentation of a study conducted by GCU looking at all the research and industry best practice on wellbeing over the last two years. The participants will be asked to vote on the priorities for the Make It Visible initiative to work on.
Sarah Meek, Managing Director of Mates in Mind said “These latest statistics demonstrate that we need to do more as an industry to prevent people reaching the point of crisis, by addressing the causes that negatively impact on one’s mental health and thereby reduce the need for safety nets.
There is much that we can do around prevention and employers should be encouraged to view their responsibility around this across their total workforce including their supply chain who, from our research earlier this year, have shown to be working with severe levels of anxiety. With positive moves already beginning which sees mental health starting to feature in frameworks, we must continue building on this and encourage conversations around how contracts are both procured and awarded to address some of the factors that can have such a detrimental effect.”
The full report can be downloaded here : Construction project risk & value management | Glasgow Caledonian University | Scotland, UK (gcu.ac.uk) NASC boss becomes VP of European Scaffolding Confederation
Dave Mosley, Acting Managing Director of the NASC has been voted in as Vice President of the European Scaffolding Confederation (UEG).
The Union of European Scaffolding Companies (UEG) represents the interests of scaffolding across Europe. Its members made the important vote at its Annual General assembly Meeting held in Cologne last week.
Members of the UEG include national scaffolding associations from Germany, UK, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, France and Luxembourg. The union is also currently in discussion with several other national federations aiming to join.
It was founded in 2008, with NASC joining in 2009 represented by former NASC MD Robin James and Dave Mosley.
UEG also has a range of producers, manufacturers and industry experts as associate members who bring their support and knowledge, representing the wider group’s best interests via their roles on several European Standard setting bodies.
Over the years, Dave has attended regular meetings and taken part in several working groups. There are a number of working parties looking to raise scaffolding standards and set minimum requirements for the European sector.
Dave Mosley said: “ I am very proud to have been appointed as Vice President of UEG and would like to thank the members for voting for me.
NASC has been involved with the federation almost from the beginning, it is essential that our voice is heard during the discussions that take place in Europe, as they could have serious consequences upon standards regarding materials, labour, training and other aspects of the scaffolding industry back in the UK.
Over the years, we have met some incredibly knowledgeable and experienced industry representatives via UEG and made some great friends and allies. Not every member will have the same opinion on a particular subject but through discussion we can usually reach a consensus, which will help to move us collectively in the right direction.”
Over the years, Dave has attended regular meetings and taken part in several working groups. There are a number of working parties looking to raise scaffolding standards and set minimum requirements for the European sector.
Dave Mosley said: “ I am very proud to have been appointed as Vice President of UEG and would like to thank the members for voting for me.
NASC has been involved with the federation almost from the beginning, it is essential that our voice is heard during the discussions that take place in Europe, as they could have serious consequences upon standards regarding materials, labour, training and other aspects of the scaffolding industry back in the UK.
Over the years, we have met some incredibly knowledgeable and experienced industry representatives via UEG and made some great friends and allies. Not every member will have the same opinion on a particular subject but through discussion we can usually reach a consensus, which will help to move us collectively in the right direction.” G-DECK continues to see growth with launch of new product
G-DECK continues to push forward after the launch of its long-awaited lighter-weight 1m deck panel.
After trials and certification, the Leicester-based manufacturer has added a lighter-weight 1m deck option to both their STANDARD and scaffold DUAL systems.
The new 1m deck panel only weighs 10.4kg so has been reduced by 3.5kg to its normal 1m deck and now gives anyone the option of having a deck panel if required which is now as light as any alternatives, however, the loading which they are known for is still an impressive 5kN (500kg) per m2 which means the decks can still be loaded and used in a variety of uses.
A G-DECK spokesperson said: “Our in-house development team has proven yet again that we can create ground-breaking advancements in our products and this is a testament to what we achieve year after year to push our systems and products forward.”
Its existing customers can now choose between G-DECK’s normal and lighter deck panels as the new deck panels work with both its Standard and Dual systems simultaneously.
But this also will enable any business that was interested in upgrading to G-DECK to make the switch due to the lighter deck being less manual handling on installs and dismantles.
“2022 has seen yet again growth in the demand for our systems and products with still plenty of developments planned on our road map for 2023,” G-DECK said.
HSE statistics show workplace stress, depression and anxiety on the rise
Statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show improvement in some areas but also show concerning trends in workplace stress, depression and anxiety.
The latest statistics published by the HSE which include work-related ill health and non-fatal workplace injuries, show that 1.8 million workers suffered from a work-related illness in the period 2021-2022, up from 1.7 million the previous year. Over fifty percent of these cases are related to stress, depression, or anxiety.
Data shows that there were 123 workers killed in the same period and that 565,00 workers sustained a non-fatal injury up from 441,000 the previous year.
The construction industry has the highest level of fatalities of any sector – 30 in total.
HSE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Albon, said: “Stress and poor mental health is the number one cause of work-related ill health. The effects of stress, depression, and anxiety can have a significant impact on an employee’s life and on their ability to perform their best at work. “Britain is one of the safest places in the world to work but we need all employers to do more and take seriously their responsibilities to support good mental health at work. That’s why improving mental health in the workplace is a key priority in our 10-year strategy ‘Protecting People and Places’, and why we’re developing new partnerships across industry to help employers support their employees.”Industry Reaction
Robert Candy, Chief Executive of the Scaffolding Association said; “Almost a quarter of all workplace fatalities occur as a result of falls from height, which remains the single largest contributing factor – 29 for the period 2021-2022 and 29 too many.
Further, with over 50% of work-related ill health cases being a result of stress, depression or anxiety indicates a rapidly growing trend that employers must get to grips with to ensure employees are being offered the support they need.
Statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) earlier this year suggest that in construction (a typically male dominated industry) that men are three times more likely to die by suicide than national average men. That equates to another 700 deaths every year in construction.”
To see the HSE statistics and statement in full see here.
Award winning success for JDC Scaffolding
After three consecutive years of being NASC finalists, JDC Scaffolding have finally been awarded the accolade of Project of the Year (Medium) for its incredible work at the Annexe Building in London.
Hertfordshire-based JDC Scaffolding is celebrating its success after its project at the Annexe Building, Smithfield Market was deemed the best in its category at the recent NASC Awards 2022.
The national scaffolding trade body awarded JDC for its highly technical and design-intensive project that’s helping with the restoration of what’s been called the ‘last ruin in London’ and will ultimately be the new Museum of London.
Built-in the late 1800s the Annexe Building compromises of two main buildings; the Red House which was one of the first cold stores in the world and the triangular Fish Market both of which had been left derelict since 1983. The whole building is constructed over a network of tunnels and basements, including two main Thameslink rail lines.
Working for main contractors McLaughlin & Harvey, JDC deployed a series of complex designed scaffolding structures across the project to allow restoration works that included shoring, protection and general scaffolding access.
This allowed contractors to make the building safe, clean the external masonry, replace internal timbers, replace the roof coverings and alter the internal layout.
The NASC said: “The project highlighted JDC’s design capabilities and the depth of its engineering knowledge. The design development was an intense process and carried out in difficult communication circumstances during a pandemic.”
Sam Sufferin, SHEQ Advisor for McLaughlin & Harvey added: “JDC has demonstrated excellent standards of safety performance throughout their time on the COL Annexe project to date. On what is an extremely intricate site, they have designed, constructed and maintained complex scaffolding systems with H&S at the forefront.”
Phil Welham, Business Development Director at JDC Scaffolding said: “JDC Scaffolding were proud to receive the Project of the Year (Medium) award at the NASC Awards. We were up against some unbelievably tough opposition, but the judges thought that our submission, for this technically challenging project, was worthy of the award.
Our very strong and loyal team have stuck together, with hard work and self-belief it is amazing what you can achieve.”
This allowed contractors to make the building safe, clean the external masonry, replace internal timbers, replace the roof coverings and alter the internal layout.
The NASC said: “The project highlighted JDC’s design capabilities and the depth of its engineering knowledge. The design development was an intense process and carried out in difficult communication circumstances during a pandemic.”
Sam Sufferin, SHEQ Advisor for McLaughlin & Harvey added: “JDC has demonstrated excellent standards of safety performance throughout their time on the COL Annexe project to date. On what is an extremely intricate site, they have designed, constructed and maintained complex scaffolding systems with H&S at the forefront.”
Phil Welham, Business Development Director at JDC Scaffolding said: “JDC Scaffolding were proud to receive the Project of the Year (Medium) award at the NASC Awards. We were up against some unbelievably tough opposition, but the judges thought that our submission, for this technically challenging project, was worthy of the award.
Our very strong and loyal team have stuck together, with hard work and self-belief it is amazing what you can achieve.” 
