Construction Industry Helpline provides £1.254 million of charitable support to the industry.
In construction, many workers and their families can find themselves in a desperate situation and are unsure of who to turn to for help and advise.
This is where the inspirational charity The Lighthouse construction charity can help. The charity provides financial and emotional support to the construction community and their families who are suffering from the effects of long term illness, injury or financial difficulties. They offer support to anyone who needs advice on debt management, taxation or just generally need a helping hand in life. A recent press release from Lighthouse has shown some staggering statistics on the emotional welfare of construction workers in the UK and Ireland. 2018 was a difficult year for many people and for many reasons but in the construction industry last year alone 1662 individuals or families in crisis contacted the Lighthouse helpline. These calls ranged from mental health issues to legal, taxation and debt management advice. The financial support provided in 2018 by Lighthouse was £1.25 million a staggering increase of 75% compared to 2017. Lighthouse Construction Industry charity provides helpline packs to employers and construction employees and thus far have a total of 350,000 helpline cards in circulation within our industry.
The charity has also recently launched a helpline app with the support of construction software ‘COINS’, the app enables industry workers and their families to quickly and conveniently find out more information on self-help techniques or how to progress to the next step in seeking professional help. This app is designed to be a preventative tool that can be used in the early stages of a situation to prevent a crisis for the individual by seeking help quicker.
For help on downloading this app please visit their page here
Lighthouse provides a 24 hour 7 days a week confidential helpline, 0345 6051956, which presents the first step in getting help and support on the situations many construction workers may be facing.
Working closely within the industry and with the individual employers, Lighthouse offers an online portal of information about mental health, equipping employers with the knowledge and skills to begin developing the process of a positive mental health culture in their workplace.
For more information please visit: https://www.buildingmentalhealth.net/
To encourage the shift in attitude towards mental health Lighthouse empowers employers by providing downloadable videos and toolbox talks as well as essential advice on how to access health training and services.
All of this information is free of charge and can be tailored to the individual companies needs.
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction industry charity commented on the recent figures released, “On the positive side the 2018 figures show that we are reaching out to more construction workers and their families, but it also means that too many of them find themselves in desperate situations. The significant escalation in families needing our support has taken us by surprise and has put pressure on our finances.
With two construction workers taking their own lives every single working day, and stress depression and anxiety accounting for a fifth of all work-related illness it is vital that we continue to provide our helpline services and put additional funding into the construction industry’s dedicated volunteer-led building mental health programme.”
It is important to stress that Lighthouse is a charity based organisation helping thousands of industry workers and their families on a daily basis, Lighthouse receives no public funding and relies solely on the generosity of those working within the industry to help them continue their vital, life-changing work.
Hill added, “The only way we can plan ahead is with predictable income. That’s why we have launched our company supporters initiative and our ‘save a life’ campaign. We are urging companies to pledge a regular annual donation to ensure the long term sustainability of our valuable charity services.
If you are reading this and wondering how your company can make a difference, then here’s how to get involved.”
https://www.lighthouseclub.org/lighthouse-company-supporter/ Young scaffolder who struggled with depression found hanged by mum
The heartbreaking news of a young scaffolder who committed suicide has been released.
An inquest at Bradford coroner court heard how Louie Sam Bates (19) from Halifax was found by his mother suspended from a ligature in their family home. Bates had been suffering from depression for two years but tragically had not pursued any help for his condition, the courts heard. The coroner court also heard how Bates lived with his Mother Lisa Mullally and his younger sister, he was last seen by his grandmother asleep in bed between 6:30pm and 7pm on Saturday 5th January, a message was then received by Louie’s partner sent from his sisters phone at 5:30 am the following day. Coroners official Bernard Tate stated that, after being found by his mother, Bates was placed on the living room floor and his death was confirmed by paramedics at 10:02am. Oliver Crouch, a friend of Mr Bates has set up a gofundme page in memory of Louie with the aim of raising £1000. The generosity of Louie’s friends and family have far surpassed the expectation and have so far raised a fantastic £8580 in ten days. To date, 481 friends and family members have donated showing fantastic support for this ‘Top lad’ and his family. The amounts donated range from £5 to a generous £1000 from KLN Scaffolding. To donate to Louie Bates fund please visit the gofundme page Mental Health effects everybody at some point in their lives with an estimated one in four people affected every year. With the unnecessary stigma attached to mental health issues, some people can find it very difficult to muster up the courage to access help. A new campaign was set up in 2018 by the NASC called Head For Heights in a bid to assist sufferers of mental health in the construction industry to have more confidence to discuss their issues and help them to identify who they can talk too. In the construction industry, it is believed the macho and male-dominated nature of the workplace can inhibit mental health sufferers to discuss their condition and this alone can exacerbate their troubles and become more harmful to the individual than the condition itself. Sadly, in a study published by Lexology, construction site workers are three times more likely to commit suicide than the average UK male.Where to get help.
It is important to remember you are not alone, there is help available to you if you are feeling symptoms of mental illness such as anxiety depression or low mood. Don’t suffer in silence, some organisations you can access if you need help or just wish to speak to someone anonymously and in confidence are:- Lighthouse Club: lighthouse club Construction Industry Helpline 0345 605 1956
- Samaritans: phone 116 123, 24 hours a day or you can email [email protected]
- Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM): For young men who are feeling unhappy, phone 0800 58 58 58
- Time to change: www.time-to-change.org.uk
- Bullying UK: Bullying UK A website for both adults and children who are affected by bullying.
No fear scaffolders dismantle high altitude hanger
Video showing scaffolders dismantling a high altitude scaffold posted by ScaffMag goes viral with 2.5 million views on Facebook.
The location of where the video was taken is unknown but many commenting on the video posted on Monday said how queasy they felt watching the 60-second clip. The nail-biting film shows two scaffolders removing the high scaffold from the side of an unknown building. If that wasn’t bad enough a worrying fault was spotted with the scaffolders harnesses, no retrievable inertia reel is being used and their anchor points are quite questionable, to say the least.Council guilty after worker crushed by pack of roof trusses
Darlington Borough Council has been fined £28K after a labourer was injured when a pack of roof trusses fell on him.
Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 5 October 2017, the self-employed labourer was working for two brickies sub-contracted to Darlington Borough Council. He was walking past the front of the building plot at Allington Way, Darlington, when a pack of roof trusses fell on him, trapping him by the head and arm. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there was an overall failure to adequately monitor work activities at the site at Allington Way, Darlington. Contributing factors to the incident included inadequate arrangements for the storage of roof trusses, failure to manage the amount of materials on site, failure to plan for parking of vehicles on site and poor housekeeping on site. Darlington Borough Council of Town Hall, Darlington pleaded guilty to breaching the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 and has been fined £28,000 with £1,648.45 in costs. Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Andrea Robbins said: “It is vital that work activities on construction sites are properly planned, managed and monitored to prevent issues like this developing on site – the failures found here ultimately led to the roof trusses falling onto the labourer, causing serious injuries. This could have been prevented.”New Stay Safe at Height training course announced by CISRS
CISRS have announced they are introducing a new Stay Safe at Heights Scaffold Awareness course. The one day course will be open to tradesmen and construction workers such as bricklayers, painters and electricians.
CISRS say delegates will have a better understanding and appreciation of the core components of a safe scaffold and will be able to identify the potential dangers of working at heights from a scaffold platform.
Upon completion of this course delegates will receive a CISRS scaffold awareness certificate.
The NASC has welcomed the introduction of the course, NASC Health and Safety advisor Stephen Allen-Tidy stated, “The NASC is committed to promoting the highest standards of safety within the industry. Through the publication and dissemination of a wide range of industry recognised safety and technical guidance including SG4:15 Preventing Falls in scaffolding operations, we continue to drive safety standards upwards.”
The course will be beneficial to anyone who works at height in any place, and as the Work at Heights Regulations 2005 state, ‘employers must ensure all employees engaged in any work at height activity must be competent to do so.’
Statistics presented in the NASC 2018 Safety report show that the number of falls from heights accidents has decreased by 46% from 26 to 14 in 2017.
CISRS Administrator, Laura Weekes commented, “This classroom-based course will give tradesmen a basic understanding of what a compliant scaffold looks like and guidance on how they can work at heights safely. We are looking to offer this course at training centres nationwide from this summer onwards.”
Stephen Allen-Tidy added, ”Through the introduction of the Scaffolding Awareness training course the scope of safety training efforts is being extended beyond scaffolding operatives, helping to ensure that all workers who set foot on a scaffold can carry out the tasks they require safely.”
Altrad Group reports record revenue
Altrad Group has announced record revenues of €3.42 billion for the fiscal year ending August 2018.
The giant French-based group reported a net profit growth of €201 million in 2018 in comparison with €138 million in 2017. Altrad’s successful acquisition and integration of Cape plc in September 2017 has significantly contributed to this strong growth.
According to an Altrad report, the group’s overall revenue is represented by an impressive 81% to services provided and 19% to equipment manufacture, this section of the business continues to grow and perform well with healthy margins, the group said.
A core initiative of the Altrad group in this financial year has been to bring forward different business all working together under the Altrad umbrella. This combing of workforces has enabled Altrad to diversify their service offering with improved exposure to longer-term sectors including Oil and Gas.
One of the world’s largest scaffolding providers Altrad have more than one-third of their business outside of Europe with under a third being in the UK and according to KHL hold stock with a value of €1.2 billion. With Brexit on the horizon, it seems the Altrad group is positive about their future market in the UK, despite all the uncertainties we face the UK market is showing a good standard of resilience and the group have various plans in place to prepare for any uncertain outcomes.
Altrad’s CEO Lois Huetz said: “These record full-year results reflect the transformative evolution that the Group has undertaken in recent years. The strategic rationale to diversify Altrad’s service offering and expand our geographical footprint has provided the Group with a significantly stronger and more balanced business. The breadth of our services ensures we have the scale and capabilities to meet the exacting demands of our enviable blue-chip client-base across our various sectors and geographies.
Following the successful integration of Cape throughout this year, we have firmly established ourselves as an undisputed world leader in services to large industry and equipment for access to the construction and maintenance of the world’s largest facilities. We are employing strategies to consolidate this position further by leveraging the operating efficiencies and new opportunities that present themselves to us on account of our increasing scale and profile within the industry.”
Scaffolding lorry driver arrested after fatal motorway crash
A lorry driver has been detained by police after a 14-year old boy and a woman was killed following a major crash involving multiple vehicles on the M58.
The collision which happened yesterday around 9am between junctions 3 and 4 near Wigan involved seven vehicles including a scaffolding lorry and a minibus. The two victims who had been traveling in the minibus were pronounced dead at the scene Police said. A 31-year old man from Chorley who was driving an Allied Scaffolding lorry has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. A number of other people also suffered serious injuries and are being treated at Hospital. A spokesperson for Allied Scaffolding told the ScaffMag: “We are deeply saddened by the events that took place yesterday, we will continue to fully co-operate with police and authorities and give them our full support during their investigation. “Our main concerns remain for those involved in the crash and their immediate families.” In a statement, Lancashire Police also said: “Shortly after the initial collision a second collision took place involving an HGV, a van and a car. As a result of this collision, a woman also suffered serious injuries. Two men were also seriously injured. “We are working closely with partner agencies and the motorway remains closed in both directions for accident investigations. Diversions are in place.”Beaver84 Merges With Generation Hire & Sales
Scaffolding specialist Altrad Beaver84 has merged with Generation Hire & Sales.
As of the 1st January, Altrad Beaver84 is now trading as Generation Hire and sales the firm has said on its website. Both Beaver84 and Generation were acquired by French scaffolding giant the Altrad Group, in 2011 and 2012, both have traded independently ever since. ScaffMag understands that in 2018 the Altrad Group saw an opportunity to combine both businesses to provide better service and value to customers of Beaver84 and Generation. The coming together of Beaver84 and Generation will mean they have the largest stock holding of Hire and sales materials than anywhere in the UK. Generation also says their customers are able to benefit from a magnitude of additional branches, a larger fleet of Hiab vehicles and additional technical resources and support. A spokesperson for Generation said in a statement on their website: “We have been working hard to ensure that the only impact is the name change to Generation. But there will also be some updates to account and product codes. The Altrad Beaver team will continue to support their customers and ensure that there is no interruption to our service.”New scaffolder training centre opens in Qatar
