UK System Scaffold Hire has become the “go to” specialists for companies requiring public access staircases (PAS).
UKSSH’s unsurpassed product knowledge combined with HAKI’s superb Public Access Staircase have provided fully compliant access solutions at sports and leisure venues including football stadia, major flower shows and boat shows as well as at railway stations and historic monuments and provided emergency exits at schools and shopping centres.
Features of the temporary staircases include non-slip treads with GRP covering, Disability Discrimination Act compliant handrails and unique tamper proof locking devices to ensure maximum safety.
One example of the system’s ability to take very heavy footfall in its stride was when UKSSH was asked to provide a temporary staircase for pedestrian access to the world famous White Tower at the Tower of London whilst the installation of new, permanent, steps took place. Unique Scaffolding chose UK System Scaffold Hire to specify and supply the HAKI Public Access Staircase.
THE BEST SOLUTION
The temporary staircase had to cope with large numbers of visitors queuing on the staircase during busy periods and lead them up to the temporary entrance on the west elevation. It also had to provide a safe, comfortable and steady walkway for tourists visiting the historic building. Due to the historical importance of the building, the stair could not be tied to it and therefore had to be free standing.
The permissible load for a tread width of 1.6m and loading from one side is 7.5 kN/m2. The stair was designed to be capable of taking a maximum load of 189 people, more than adequate for the required access of 100 people at any one time. The aluminium treads provided with the stair delivered the perfect slip-resistant steps and landings without any additional GRP covers even throughout the cold, icy winter months.
UK System Scaffold Hire provided on-site support and on-time delivery in the very heart of the Nation’s capital, helping the Tower to maintain visitor numbers throughout the renovation.
By 2017 the UK event equipment hire market had reached an annual value of £600million, according to AMA Research. For most people this sector means audio and lighting rigs, props, effects, portaloos and security fencing, but larger structures, staging and seating accounts for one of the biggest proportions of industry spend.
It’s understandable, really. Britain, particularly in the summertime, is awash with large scale events that require significant investment in structural assets to pull off – from Glastonbury to Wireless. And music festivals are just one side of the story.
Acorn Event Structures has been delivering world-class stages and other structural equipment to clients across the globe since 1996. Last year alone, the firm’s expertise helped make a bespoke stage for Pope Francis, a specialist theatre for Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, and worked at major festivals such as Creamfields, Boomtown, Summertime Ball and Car Fest, to name but four.
Demand continues to grow in 2019, as the events calendar becomes ever-more packed with dates. With this in mind we contacted Emma Petty, Acorn’s marketing manager, to gain a better insight into the realities of this often-unsung end of the scaffold and temporary structures game, and learn a little about what the future might hold.
“From its inception, Acorn received enquiries from event companies to supply temporary scaffolding solutions and consequently, in 2006, took the decision to launch a stand-alone event-oriented company to service this activity,” she explains how the Leeds-based Acorn Scaffolding came to give birth to Acorn Event Structures.
“Since then the operation has grown from strength to strength and now has sub-divisions dedicated to scaffold, staging and bespoke structures and continually invests in developing and refining products for the event industry.”
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects to Acorn’s work is not simply the fact that they create public-access scaffold for a wide variety of sites, but by nature they are also involved in the creative process of event development.
Organisers may have a vision, but only the experts understand whether that can be achieved, and how. Functional industry meeting design-led thinking; a combination that isn’t as commonplace as many might think.
“Acorn’s unrivalled creative expertise and forward-thinking engineering solutions surpass those of other temporary structures providers in the market,” she adds.
“We are continually chosen ahead of other suppliers because of our ability to translate our clients’ visions into reality and lead into new territories of structural design.”
Petty cites a number of examples to evidence her point. Europe’s first ever pop-up Shakespearean theatre is arguably the most revealing.
Inspired by the London Rose Playhouse, which was built in 1587 and as such predates the world-famous Globe by more than a decade, Acorn was tasked with developing and delivering a modern interpretation of the 13-sided 16th Century structure. More challenging still, they had a three-week timeframe in which to complete.
The company responded with a design offering 600 seats on triple-tiered balconies and space for a further 350 people at ground level. No seat was more than 15 metres from the stage, with the overall site replicating the original building while also updating it.
“We were delighted to be part of such an important local project, which created a cultural legacy for our community and supported local industry. We worked closely with our client to design and engineer a unique and functional performance area,” says Andy Nutter, Acorn’s managing director.
Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Pope Francis’ Papal Mass in Ireland is another example that shows the level of innovation involved in Acorn’s builds. Set the task of conceiving a stage that could completely surround the location of the event, Papal Cross, the solution was a 60m Mega Dome structure, which itself included another internal domed roof offering weather protection for His Holiness, complete with 120 linear meters of glass balustrade. The brief also required a plaque commemorating Pope John II’s 1979 visit to the site remained in place and visible.
As with many of Acorn’s efforts, Layer scaffold systems were used to achieve the best possible results, with the firms having been partners for over 15 years. That relationship shows no sign of changing any time soon either given Acorn’s commitment to continue providing the level of service it currently does.
“Our events clients are continuously pushing the boundaries in staging, production, lighting, sound and visuals to provide a unique visitor experiences and Acorn is proud to be instrumental in helping our clients meet their objectives with scaffold event structures capable of underpinning increasingly ambitious production specifications,” says Petty.
The coming years looks bright for the events industry right now, both in the UK and beyond, and the same can be said for Acorn’s specialist team. With that in mind we’re keen to see what the firm’s future endeavours and accomplishments might involve.
A scaffolding boss has received a suspended jail sentence and a roofing contractor has been fined after a scaffolder was killed falling through a fragile roof during construction work at a factory in Staffordshire.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how on 19 September 2015, at the Norton Aluminium foundry site in Norton Canes, a scaffolder was fatally injured after falling approximately 11.5 metres through a fragile roof. The scaffolder was working on the corrugated asbestos cement roof to move and fit temporary scaffold guardrails as part of a larger roof refurbishment project at the site.
An investigation led by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the scaffolding boss, trading as ** Scaffolding, failed to ensure the health and safety of his employees in relation to the work taking place on the fragile roof at the site. The investigation also found that Sandwell Roofing Limited, a contractor in overall control of the roof refurbishment project, failed to ensure that people not in its employment were not exposed to risks arising from work on the fragile roof.
The scaffolding firms boss, from Birmingham, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for two years, 180 hours of unpaid community service and ordered to pay costs of £14,000.
Sandwell Roofing Limited of New Wood Farm Stourton, Stourbridge, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £41,125 and ordered to pay costs of £33,000.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Andrew Bowker said:
“Falls through fragile roof materials remain one of the most common causes of work-related fatalities during construction work. These risks are well known, and the required control measures well documented in both HSE and industry guidance. This was a tragic and wholly avoidable accident that led to the death of a young man. This death could easily have been prevented if suitable safe systems of work had been in place.”
Avontus Software has expanded into a new, larger UK office location.
As a colourful Cathedral city in Cambridgeshire Ely is a wonderful place in which to both live and work. It’s also the UK home of ‘Avontus’, a world-class provider of industrial scaffolding software.
It’s barely a year since this dynamic company announced expansion into bigger office space in the heart of Berkeley. Now, the move to Ely shows how quickly the company is growing, part of its strategic plan for talent development and overall advancement in the field. With a powerful presence in three continents and a leading reputation across the globe, scaffolding is in safe hands moving forward.
Constructing Something Big
A spokesperson told ScaffMag: “When we founded Avontus two decades ago, we knew we were doing something big. We developed software that can solve some of the big inefficiencies in the typical scaffold work-flow. Laborious hand-drawn designs, manual estimating processes, and un-trackable inventory—conventional scaffold design and management processes cost businesses time and money.
“Since day one, our goal has been to modernize how scaffolding is designed, planned, and managed. With Avontus’ Scaffold Designer, Scaffold Viewer, and Quantify software, we’ve helped our customers win more bids and improve profitability through state-of-the-art scaffold design, visualization, and inventory management tools.
“Ely is a prime location for expanding our international operations. It offers convenient access to the most important cities around Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa. And it enables us to tap into the world-class resources and talent at nearby Cambridge University.”
An inside look at Avontus’s new office in Ely
ALeading Role
It’s a fact today, approximately 80 percent of the refining capacity in the US, the majority of the top 10 industrial scaffolding companies, and hundreds of other global businesses depend on Avontus software to modernize their operations and take control of their profitability.
The UK market has begun a transition from traditional tube-and-clamp scaffolding, and the system scaffolding market has begun to take off. This change has been accelerated by limited labour availability, as well as evolving scaffold technologies, like Scaffold Designer and Quantify solutions created by Avontus.
System Scaffolding
Given the ever-increasing pressure on the UK construction market, companies are turning to system scaffolding to reduce the demand for skilled labour and improve efficiency in scaffolding operations.
Avontus tells us: “As system scaffold is often four times the cost of tube-and-fitting, it’s imperative for businesses to manage their inventory effectively. This is what Quantify does best – giving businesses complete control over their valuable inventory, while automating back-office functions like estimating, invoicing, and re-rental.
“Likewise, the move to system scaffold is increasing the adoption of Scaffold Designer and Scaffold Viewer. These products take the guesswork out of scaffold design and estimating, enabling system scaffold companies to reduce drawing and estimating time by up to 90percent, while making bid presentations, planning reviews, and client-handovers a breeze.
“The EMEA system scaffold market is poised to reach new heights. And so is Avontus, with our new office and expanded operations in Ely.”
Avontus Headquarters at 2150 Shattuck in Berkeley, CA.
World Class Tools For The Industry
The talented Avontus team has expanded from four to 19 employees – their office at Shattuck, an iconic building in the heart of Berkeley, California, offers access to the latest tech trends around Silicon Valley. It means they are also able to draw talent from nearby UC Berkeley, one of the most prestigious institutions in the US, to help these clever bods re-imagine the future of the scaffolding industry. Their expansion in the UK represents the industry evolution as a whole.
Kier is at the top of the contractors’ league table for May 2019, thanks to 12 contracts awarded with a total value of £397 million. Construction of the new HM Prison Wellingborough contributed £253 million, while the Paisley Town Hall regeneration also contributed £22million to the total amount. In joint second place were Hill Partnerships and Ardmore Construction with the total value both at £154 million and considerably fewer contracts awarded each at four and three projects respectively.
The latest edition of the Top 50 League Tables has been published by industry analysts Barbour ABI, which highlights the number of contracts awarded and the total value. This month shows that the combined value of contracts awarded to the top 50 was £2.6 billion and a total of 141 projects.
Other notable contractor activity for May came from Galliford Try Construction, who were particularly active, being awarded eight projects at a total cost of £116million boosting them up 12 places from last month, finishing in sixth place for May 2019.
Kier is the only contractor to again feature in the top three this month – they sat in second place in April, behind ISG, who have now dropped 25 places to finish in twenty-sixth position for May.
Kier’s activity this month has further cemented its top position for a rolling 12-month period with 155 awards totaling £2.27 billion. Wates Construction are experiencing a busy 12-month period with 48 awards at a value just over £1.6 billion and Mace Limited with 22 awards at a value of £1.2 billion excluding their joint venture with Dragados on the Euston Super Station.
Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI said, “The top 50 contractors league table provides interesting analysis on construction activity throughout the UK. Even though this month we see Kier dominate the league tables, activity can change dramatically month on month by the top contractors, generally resulting in a change in the top three positions each month. In May we saw a total value of £2.6 billion contracts awards, a decrease of 22% on April 2019.”
The Dorset based multi-disciplined contractor SCA Group has been successful in securing the new build Fuel Storage at the Ministry of Defence’s project in Gosport.
Working for the Murphy Group SCA has been contracted to provide all the access Scaffold requirements for the duration of the build. Murphy is set to remove and replace the depot’s riveted plate steel fuel tanks, which are more than 100 years old and are approaching their end of service life.
SCA will support Murphy for the duration of new tank development which is being constructed to support the new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers in Portsmouth Naval Base.
The SCA Group are also the main contractor to BAE in providing all access scaffold for the ongoing maintenance of the Fleet. SCA Group is highly experienced in working in sensitive environments and industrial locations.
New app for frustrated tourists plots popular sites across the globe with scaffolding erected on them.
For anyone frustrated on reaching an iconic building only to discover it shrouded in scaffolding, there’s a simple solution to the problem. A revolutionary new app called ‘Underscaffold’ has come to the aid of anyone wishing to pinpoint major tourist attractions and architecture across the globe.
Innovative App
The app has been designed to search for tourist sites anywhere in the world and check if they have scaffolding on them. Big Ben and The Elizabeth Tower are proving very popular at the moment, and all eyes will shortly be on the Taj Mahal, due to start its restoration this June. You can rest assured ScaffMag will be keeping a close eye on that one.
Users of this smart application can help others by warning them of scaffolding on tourist sites. In fact, Site operators can also provide the latest official information for anyone making travel plans. Users can also:
• Provide pictures and comments, good or bad. • See all the photos and comments provided by users. • Submit five reports and become a Star reporter. • See their one-word scaffolding summary based on latest reports: None, Some, Lots. • Submit new tourist sites that may have been missed from the app.
Listed Sites
Underscaffold already has more than 1,000 sites listed, but only 10 percent have reports to go with them. As word spreads, this is expected to fill up considerably. It’s amazing just how many people are reporting disappointment at a famous landmark covered in scaffolding when they arrive at tourist destinations.
Just Getting Started
A spokesperson for Underscaffold told me: “We are just getting started so it’s certainly early days, and people really do look forward to seeing buildings and landmarks in all their glory. It can prove a big turn off when they arrive to see a full scaffolding system in place.
“The app does need as many reports as possible to become useful whether there’s scaffolding or not, so please get the word out. We love Big Ben right now. Just use the “Add Report” button, on a site’s page in the app. Users can also add sites we have not yet listed via the app.”
Free To Use
It’s completely free to use, compatible with all devices and constantly updated by both users and operators of the sites in question. It’s available from The App Store or Google Play.
So remember, when it comes to viewing your favourite places on holiday or anywhere else in their usual full glory – ‘Avoid disappointments. Help Others. Its’ free’.
Nine North East residents have secured apprenticeships or employment through a partnership between Thirteen, the largest housing association in the North East, and expanding local company, J Mac Scaffolding and Safety Systems.
As part of its social value commitment as a Thirteen contractor, J Mac partnered with Thirteen’s employability team to fill its apprenticeship vacancies and six Thirteen customers have been successful.
The Stockton-based company also approached Thirteen to support recruitment for a full-time administrator vacancy and has also employed two further job-seekers who have been working with Thirteen’s offender employment coordinator.
Karen Kenmare, Thirteen’s senior housing related support manager, said: “Thirteen invests extensively in supplier contracts and social value is a really important part of the tender process. Our work with J Mac is an excellent example of the process exceeding our ambitions.
“We work with some of the hardest to reach people in the region and being able to offer opportunities like this, with hands-on practical work experience and good career prospects, is invaluable to us and to our customers. J Mac has shown its commitment to supporting the local labour market and community.”
Thirteen is continuing to engage with the apprentices with six months of in-work support and is continuing to work with J Mac to identify future apprenticeship opportunities.
Luis McCarthy, managing director at J Mac said:
“We are delighted to be working with Thirteen’s Employability Team. They have already identified nine great candidates for us who are all now busy learning their trades. We are proud to offer a programme that really gives the trainees a proper understanding of our business as well as the importance of their role as the next generation of scaffolders. I think that ‘homegrown’ staff are great for us, because they are really committed and will help us continue to grow.”
The Scaffolding Association will again be holding another industry discussion at the Excel in London, during the Safety & Health Expo.
A specialist discussion panel is set to come together at the UK’s leading Health & Safety event to talk about the “Roles and Responsibilities for Working at Height.” Lead by The Scaffolding Association the session aims to talk through topics and best practices from the perspective of clients and contractors to give an informed overview for all those involved with working at height contracts.
The discussion will take place in the Operational Excellence Theatre on Wednesday 19th June 11.30am to 12.15pm. Robert Candy, Chief Executive of The Scaffolding Association will be joined by Matthew Gowen, Legal Director (Barrister) for the Regulatory and Corporate Defence Team at Birketts LLP, Craig Varian, Head of Estate Policy and Compliance, Department of Work & Pensions and Adrian Marsh, Director at Campbell Marsh Communications.
The Scaffolding Association said, The purpose of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 is to prevent death and injury caused by a fall from height. If you are an employer or you control work at height, such as a facilities manager or building owner who contracts others to work at height, then the Regulations apply to you. You must make sure work is properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people, including using the right type of equipment for working at height.
This session will look at how you meet your responsibilities under the regulations and explore the impact and consequences of non-compliance. A must-attend event for anyone who has to deal with this area of the Construction Industry.
Having a go at home improvements may be more costly than we think, according to a recent study by construction supplier Burton Roofing.
By analysing monthly housing data from the Office of National Statistics and talking to 1,000 UK homeowners, the investigation found that the average UK household will spend £1,150.24 every year on their DIY attempts. This equates to a total of more than £31billion (£31,229,016,000) estimated to be spent on putting up shelves, refitting kitchens and hanging picture frames every year.
Londoners are revealed to be the most hands-on when it comes to their home improvements, spending £2,626 every year on their DIY attempts. On the other hand, Belfast came out as the most content with their surroundings, spending just £462.80 a year on home alterations.
London – £2,626.00
Southampton – £1,960.40
Bristol – £1,606.80
Norwich – £1,570.40
Liverpool – £1,326.00
Manchester – £1,326.00
Nottingham – £1,310.40
Leeds – £956.80
Sheffield – £956.80
Birmingham – £712.40
Cardiff – £629.20
Newcastle – £603.20
Edinburgh – £603.20
Glasgow – £603.20
Belfast £462.80
DIY projects don’t only have the potential to cost our wallets however, with the latest figures from NHS Digital showing that there were 62,895 hospital admissions in 2017-18 related to DIY accidents. Falling from ladders, contact with non-powered hand tools and falling through floors were just some of the injuries listed where the UK’s home improvement ambition has exceeded its skill.
Other findings suggested that:
Men are more than twice as likely to be injured in DIY related accidents, with 43,495 men admitted to hospital for DIY related accidents (compared to only 19,400 women)
The most dangerous age to attempt DIY is 43 years old.
It seems the adage of ‘measure twice, cut once’ need to be followed most by UK males, with 69% of all DIY related injuries being suffered by men. The age to avoid any jobs around the house is 43 years-old, with this being shown as the most likely time to suffer an accident when doing work on the home.
Given the excessive spend and apparent danger that is associated with ill-planned DIY projects, Burton Roofing set out to find the UK’s biggest DIY disaster through a photo submission competition. With entries spanning from hammers falling through ceilings, mismatched brick effect wallpaper and flooded kitchens requiring a call to the fire brigade, it’s clear that planning is not always at the forefront of people’s minds when it comes to DIY.
Paul Hattee, Managing Director at Burton Roofing, commented on the findings:
“Whilst it is heartening to see so many people trying their hands at DIY, it is important to keep in mind the importance of properly planning out a project, however big or small.
“As our competition has highlighted, there are a number of ways a DIY project can get out of hand, with the possibility of damage to property as well as injury to those involved.
“To avoid living with half a kitchen for six months, mismatched brick effect wallpaper or having to buy a new television after your light fitting comes crashing down, ensure you have properly thought through your household alterations and use the correct protective equipment.”
