A quick-thinking scaffolder has been hailed as a hero after saving the life of a toddler who was choking on a 2p coin.
Plymouth scaffolder Lewis Everson who was erecting scaffolding on a block of flats in the town, ‘sprang into action’ when he heard a mum screaming for help and saw two-year-old Isabelle Hill choking.
Isabelle’s mum, Jordane Hersey had run out of her block of flats screaming after Isabelle had got hold of some loose change and tried to swallow a coin, reports Plymouth Live.
Lewis quickly climbed down from the scaffold, undid his tool belt and took Isabelle into his lap, where he hit her back several times, dislodging the coin. Lewis’ workmate Mathew rang for an ambulance and both waited for paramedics to attend.
Jordane Hersey told local journalists: “We were making cakes in the kitchen and Isabelle got hold of some loose change. She put a coin in her mouth and tried to swallow it. I tried hitting her back and my older child couldn’t find my phone so I started panicking. I went to the door screaming for help.
“Lewis and Matthew were there. Lewis gave her a good hit on the back while Matthew rang for an ambulance. I am so thankful they were there and did what they did. They said they did nothing but I know Lewis was shaken up afterwards. He was very modest.”
“I lost a son at 17 months old six years ago and it brought it all back,” she added.
Scaffolder, Lewis, has said he was ‘shaken’ after the incident but was glad he had completed his first aid training.
He said: “There were a few of us. We heard some screaming and didn’t know where it was coming from. We ran over and saw the baby choking. I grabbed her and put her on my lap and whacked her back hard a couple of times. She was choking on a 2p coin.
“It all happened so quickly. The baby was okay – she just had a big hand-print on her back!”
“I was a bit shaken up. I had to sit in my car afterwards. I just thought it could have been my own son – he’s only a few months older than this baby. I’ve done first aid training and you don’t forget it.” he added.
Lewis’ boss at Drake Scaffolding, Shane Radmore said: “Lewis has done First Aid with us and other companies. He’s a nice lad. Lots of people would have panicked. He has a young child himself so it was probably instinct to help out.”
The NASC and SIMIAN have come together to help a former soldier take the next step in his career in the scaffolding industry.
The two organisations teamed up after scaffolder Liam Gibbons reached out for assistance via the NASC’s Facebook account.
In his message, he wrote: “I read with interest that the NASC is keen to encourage more ex-Forces personnel to take up positions in the scaffolding industry and had launched a fund to help them with training. Just wondered if there was anything you could do for me?
“I left the army two years ago, have been struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and am living in a veterans care home. I became a scaffolder, starting at the bottom and have worked my way up from a labourer to a qualified part one scaffolder.
“My second trainee card is close to expiring so I need to complete the Part 2 scaffolder course as soon as possible. I was wondering if there is any help available towards this next step.”
The NASC has stated, Liam’s appeal struck a chord with the NASC’s new President Lynn Way, who has made greater engagement with the Armed Forces and creating more career opportunities for former military personnel core objectives of her presidency.
The NASC and Simian have agreed to co-fund Liam’s Part 2 and VQ training. He will now complete his Part 2 training at Simian’s Waltham Forest training centre in January 2020.
NASC President Lynn Way said in a press release: “I am passionate about helping former Armed Forces servicemen enter the scaffolding industry and then progress through the training stages wherever I can. This is why we decided to help Liam on a strictly one-off basis.
“We’ll soon be in a position to help many more ex-military personnel achieve the same progress as Liam through the NASC’s dedicated £150,000 training pot. We’re also working hard to further strengthen our ties with the Armed Forces, ensuring that current servicemen are aware of the varied scaffolding industry careers that are available to them – many of which complement their skill sets – and can put their repatriation funding allowance towards scaffolding training.
“We hope to have more news on this front in the coming weeks”
The news comes after when last month, the NASC signed the Armed Forces Covenant, where they made a formal commitment to promote career and training opportunities in the scaffolding industry to ex-military personnel.
Simon Hughes, Managing Director of Simian, added: “Simian are very happy to work with NASC to support Liam’s progress in the sector. We are also fully behind the ex-military initiative and wish NASC the best of luck with this worthy project.”
Through the NASC’s dedicated Armed Forces training pot, it’s members can claim up to £1,000 towards the retraining or upskilling of an ex-forces employee or employees.
The NASC has also been developing relationships with various charitable partners linked with the Ministry of Defence, including Buildforce UK, After the Military and the Careers Transition Partnership.
JECS Offshore Wind Farm Services has bagged a contract to provide support to Hellenic Cables during termination works on the export cables at the SeaMade offshore wind farm in Belgium.
UK-based JECS Offshore Wind Farm will design, supply and erect the scaffolding access platforms required for technicians to prepare and position the cables and carry out the terminations of the cables to the project’s two offshore platforms and connections into Elia’s Modular Offshore Grid (MOG) platform.
JECS is also in charge of reconstructing the cable containment systems on both offshore platforms and the MOG for all cable connections. They recently completed the same scope of work for the Rentel and Northwester 2 offshore wind projects, also both connected to Elia’s MOG.
According to OffshoreWIND.biz, a few days ago, DEME’s cable-laying vessel Living Stone picked up the export cables for SeaMade at Hellenic Cables’ facility in Soussaki, Greece, and began its trip towards Vlissingen, the Netherlands.
SeaMade comprises the 252MW Seastar and the 235MW Mermaid offshore wind projects which will feature 58 Siemens Gamesa 8.0-167 DD turbines installed some 40-50km off the coast of Ostend
The 487MW offshore wind farm will be Belgium’s largest once commissioned in 2020.
The Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme (CISRS) is running a number of subsidised CPD courses across the UK this December.
CISRS working in partnership with several of the approved training providers will deliver the 2 Day CPD course for £50 per delegate. CISRS will also waive the usual associated costs of training folders and card application fees for these delegates.
CISRS has said it is a not for profit organisation and is committed to redistributing funds back into the industry. Success with its CISRS OSTS (Overseas) Scheme has allowed them to fund two programmes of this subsidised training across the UK in 2019.
Scaffolders will benefit from the training
Around 275 Scaffoldering jobs will benefit from this reduced rate training, renewing their CISRS cards through CPD course and keeping up with industry best practice for only £50.
CISRS is hoping to offer more in the way of subsidised training in 2020.
The subsidised CPD courses will be held at the following centres this December:
The Health and Safety Executive has launched an investigation after a scaffolder fell 30ft from a roof in Morecambe on Monday.
As previously reported the man named Zac Strong who is in his early 20s was working on the roof of the Masonic Hall building on Victoria Street in Morecambe. At around 8.30 am on Monday 25 November he fell 30ft from a scaffold erected around the chimney on the roof.
It is still unknown if the scaffold was being erected or dismantled at the time of the incident.
North West Ambulance Service said Mr Strong suffered serious back and leg injuries and was airlifted to the Royal Preston Hospital.
Scaffolder Zac Strong fell 30ft in Morecambe. Image Credit: Lancashire Post
ScaffMag has learned from a source close to the family that Mr Strong was now in a stable condition in the hospital. He suffered multiple broken bones that included the legs, pelvis and spine from the fall.
A spokeswoman for the HSE said: “We can confirm HSE is aware of the incident and is investigating.”
Lancaster City Council said it had passed details of the incident on to the HSE, and would assist with further information if required.
A brand-new, purpose-built training centre in Vietnam has become the world’s first place ready to offer CISRS Level 4 Overseas Scaffolder Training Scheme (OSTS) – the most advanced level scaffolding qualification.
The state-of-the-art centre in Vung Tau City in Southern Vietnam has been built by Black Cat Insulation Technical JSC in partnership with UK training provider, AIS Training to service the training requirements of the lucrative Indo-China oil and gas and construction markets.
This new centre replaces the previous AIS Training / Black Cat training centre, which was launched in 2017, and will help to raise standards for experienced scaffolders across South East Asia and beyond.
It is the latest in a long list of achievements for the Black Cat and AIS Training partnership. Since their joint training centre opened, it has proved overwhelming successful attracting hundreds of delegates from the Indo-China region. CISRS has consistency given excellent feedback on the facilities and the centre recently passed another yearly audit with flying colours.
As well as preparing for the new Level 4 OSTS qualification, the new centre is accredited to deliver OSTS Level 1 and 2, Basic Scaffold Inspection and Advanced Scaffold Inspection and Supervisors courses.
David John Adams, scaffolding manager at AIS Training said: “Our overseas partner, Black Cat, has put an enormous amount of dedication and investment into this outstanding facility.
“We are delighted our centre has become the very first place ready and waiting for approval to deliver the CISRS Level 4 OSTS qualification. It is a credit to both the region and the people for its dedication and determination to adopt new training standards so quickly. AIS Training and Black Cat have worked very hard over the last few years to bring a world class standard of scaffolding training to the region and this new facility will help to raise the bar further.”
Trevor Donoghue, CISRS accreditation auditor, said: “Black Cat and AIS Training have developed a fantastic facility here in Vietnam which is boosting scaffolding skills across the whole of South East Asia. An immense amount of thought and hard work has gone into creating this new centre and the high-quality facilities are capable of housing Level 3&4 courses. Once the centre moves through the CISRS OSTS progression routes it will be ready to achieve further accreditation.”
Brogan Group has secured the scaffolding package for a modular build hotel in Finsbury Park, London.
The International scaffolding and access contractor is set to erect a full perimeter scaffold to the new 192 bed 8-storey Premier Inn Hotel. Positioned at 240 Seven Sisters Road, the scaffold will be erected progressively and sequential with the installation of the prefabricated pods.
Tide Construction the main contractors on site said on its website: “This hotel will make a real impact on the public realm by opening up the building to make the streetscape more hospitable.”
According to Brogan Group, the site is in close proximity on its eastern boundary to a significant railway viaduct, which carries the East Coast Main Line. To overcome the obstacle a vast amount of input was required from its in-house design team.
On The Tools has a named a scaffolder with Down’s syndrome the country’s top apprentice.
A staggering 4,500 people voted for Todd Scanlon in a recent public vote for the 2019 On The Tools Awards. He had been nominated for the award for overcoming his fear of heights, and for his energy and commitment to learning in his apprenticeship.
The 30-year-old from Swindon was presented with the honor at the On The Tools Awards ceremony held at Edgbaston Cricket Ground. It’s designed to celebrate and recognise both individuals and leading construction brands.
Todd told local media: “I wanted to go into scaffolding because it’s my favourite thing to do.It feels great to win the award. I don’t really know why I won the award, people just voted for me to win.“
According to his employer, Swindon-based Coles Scaffolding Contractors Ltd, Todd has always impressed customers and work colleagues with his professionalism, enthusiasm and politeness.
“He has great determination.He comes in every day and proves people wrong. Winning the award just shows he can do it,” says Martyn Coles MD of Coles Scaffolding Contractors Ltd.
“Having him on the site is great, he’s a good presence, all of the customers like him and he’s very polite.
“When we took him on we didn’t have any worries. I know his capability, but he is still proving to be better than whatever expectations we have. Everything you put in front of him he just does.
“I’m not sure why he won the award, but I think it’s mainly because it is thought people with a disability shouldn’t be in our industry.He’s just shown that you can do it with the right guidance. He’s just a likeable guy.”
The man in his early 20’s had been working on the roof of a building in Victoria Street when he fell 30ft at around 8.30 am this morning (Monday, November 25). Local media has named the scaffolder as Zac Strong, from Morecambe.
A spokesperson from North West Ambulance Service said: “Mr Strong suffered serious back and leg injuries and was airlifted to the Royal Preston Hospital for treatment.”
The roof of the building. Image Credit Lancashire Post Scaffolding around the chimney. Image Credit: Lancashire Post
Images from the scene show scaffolding around the chimney on the roof but It’s not known if the scaffolder was erecting or dismantling the scaffold when the incident happened.
Fallen pieces of scaffold tubes can also be seen on the street where Mr Strong had also fallen.
Some of the best, and most respected firms and members of the scaffolding and access community came together in Wales on Friday for the NASC Annual Ball & Awards 2019.
The popular black-tie event held this year at the impressive Celtic Manor Golf Resort, on Friday 22 November, saw a record-breaking attendance of over 700 paying guests (300 more than last year) converge to celebrate the very best in the scaffolding and access industry.
The much-anticipated annual event is growing year-on-year, so much so, according to event organisers at the NASC, the confederation is now finding it difficult to seek future venues large enough to accommodate the sheer amount of its guests. However, it has been confirmed next year’s Annual Ball & Awards will be held in Park Lane, London.
A champagne reception awaited guests on arrival to this year’s event, followed by a fine-dining three-course meal and live music from Rockabellas and The Brotherhood. TV star, Comedian and Actor Sean Lock was the surprise guest and host for the 2019 NASC Awards.
Judges comment: “Working on one of the most iconic buildings in London, planning and design was key for this successful project. The complexity of design was very impressive to the judges but particular plaudits came for the operational changes GKR Scaffolding made in order to take on such an extensive project and for setting up a dedicated service of management and safety professionals. This is the largest construction project in Europe of its kind and one of the most challenging projects for this company. GKR Scaffolding are worthy winners of the NASC 2019 Project of the Year.”
Project of the Year (up to £5m Turnover)
Apex Scaffolding (Exeter) Ltd
E A Scaffolding & Systems Ltd (Winner)
CCS Scaffolding Ltd (Runner up)
Connolly Scaffolding Ltd (Highly Commended)
RPF Scaffolding Ltd
Summit Marine Scaffolding Ltd
Judges comment: “E A Scaffolding and Systems specialist work on the Gade Valley Viaduct was complicated and time-sensitive. The judges felt the commitment to ensuring the canal flow, as well as providing safe access to the public was particularly commendable, as was the displayed sensitivity with the preservation of the local environment. Congratulations to E & Scaffolding and Systems – truly inspiring and a worthy winner of this NASC Project of the Year category.”
Health & Safety (67+ Employees)
Cape Industrial Services Ltd (Runner up)
GKR Scaffolding Ltd (Winner)
TRAD Scaffolding Co. Ltd
Turner Access Ltd
Judges comment: “It is clear from GKR’s submission they have invested both on the development of new technology as well as training their workforce through psychological safety. The judges felt GKR showed great attention to detail in the importance of breeding a positive working culture, which was clearly shown in their “Share, Learn, Improve” initiative leading to a noticeable decrease in incidents. This is why GKR Scaffolding are the winners of the NASC Health & Safety award.”
Health & Safety (1-66 Employees)
ASC (Edinburgh) Ltd
Apex Scaffolding (Exeter) Ltd (Winner)
CCS Scaffolding Ltd
RBS Scaffolding Ltd (Runner up)
Judges comment: “It was clear from Apex Scaffolding’s submission this company is taking a proactive approach to health and safety, continually developing their systems and processes to ensure the highest standards. Weekly meetings and the employment of a full-time scaffold inspector, as well as inviting members of the workforce to attend management meetings showed an excellent commitment to safety from grass roots level all the way to the top. The judges unanimously felt Apex Scaffolding (Exeter) Ltd’s entry was a clear winner and they are worthy winners of this Health & Safety award.”
Innovation of the Year
Cape Industrial Services Ltd
Layher Ltd (Flexbeam) (Winner)
Layher Ltd (SIM) (Runner up)
Layher Ltd (Steel deck)
Judges comment: “Layher’s Flex Beam has gone through a high level of design, testing and quality assurance. The judges thought the innovative adaption of the plank beam was clever and was a marked improvement on an existing product. They felt it presents a better, safer way of solving common problems, and provides innovative solutions for suspended scaffolding, gantry scaffolding and other alternative bridging solutions. All key factors in this Layher entry being awarded the NASC 2019 innovation of the year.”
Apprentice of the Year
Connect Scaffolding Ltd – Joshua Britton
Crossway Scaffolding (Elland) Ltd – Jordan Walsh (Runner up)
High Peak Scaffolding Ltd – Edward Oldridge (Winner)
TRAD Scaffolding Co. Ltd – Stephanie Betts
Judges comment: “During his time at High Peak Scaffolding, Edward has fully embraced his training and onsite experience. Feedback from Edward’s employer, clients, his Apprenticeship Officer and Tutors was all extremely positive. The judges felt Edward’s work ethic was outstanding. He enjoys helping others, and is not afraid to ask questions to develop himself; an aptitude that makes Edward an invaluable asset for his employer, and a worthy winner of the NASC 2019 Apprentice of the Year.”
NASC President’s Award
ASC (Edinburgh) Ltd
Apex Scaffolding (Exeter) Ltd
Crossway Scaffolding Ltd (Winner)
Star Scaffolding Ltd (Runner up)
Judges comment: “Crossway Scaffolding (Elland) Ltd’s submission was excellent. Their journey to improving mental health support and developing a multi-faceted approach was very impressive. The positive impact was both clear and sustainable, and the range of evidence provided to support the submission was also superb. The judge felt being positive and open about mental health is good for the industry and was impressed with the efforts overall. Congratulations to everyone at Crossway Scaffolding (Elland) for their work in supporting former NASC President Des Moore’s objectives.”
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