New senior appointment at Actavo
U.K. Edition
New CEO at Actavo Industrial Division
PASMA launches new advanced training course
As part of its ongoing commitment to improving safety and standards in the international mobile access tower industry, the Prefabricated Access Suppliers’ and Manufacturers’ Association (PASMA) has launched a new advanced training course: Towers with Cantilevers.
Developed after extensive consultation with PASMA members and the tower-using industries, and enjoying the unqualified support of manufacturers, who, together with PASMA’s technical and training committees contributed wide-ranging expertise, ‘Towers with Cantilevers’ is the latest in a series of advanced courses that reflects the fast growing use of towers in more complex and demanding applications.
It is aimed at a diverse range of industry sectors – including construction, refurbishment, cleaning and facilities management – where access is required over fragile surfaces and large or awkward structures.
Developed specifically for the more experienced tower user, ‘Towers with Cantilevers’ explains and illustrates the essential principles of counterbalance when using kentledge in cantilever calculations.
It also interprets and explains the relevant sections of BS 1139-6:2014, the standard that specifies the requirements for complex structures such as towers with cantilevers that are outside the scope of BS EN 1004, the European product standard for normal towers.
PASMA points out that ‘Towers with Cantilevers’ focuses entirely on how to assemble and dismantle these advanced tower structures – together with their limitations – in standard configurations supported by the relevant manufacturer’s instruction manual.
Available only from PASMA approved training centres, the course is open to anyone with experience of assembling, dismantling, altering, moving and inspecting mobile access towers and who has successfully completed the Association’s ‘Towers for Users’ course.
Comments director of training, Stuart Hopkins: “This training course, which combines both theory and practical, serves to further enhance the competency of tower users across the access industry.”
“It joins a growing portfolio of courses designed to keep people safe and productive – and which will shortly be joined by other PASMA advanced courses to complete the portfolio of training to support advanced tower use.” Dramatic video captures collapse of scaffolding from highrise building
Onlookers capture shocking footage of scaffolding collapsing from a nine story building in Japan during high winds.
Video has emerged online of the moment when high winds peeled away scaffolding and metal panels from a nine-story building that was due for demolition in Tama, western Tokyo, Japan. The incident happened on Sunday (17 April) thankfully there has been no reports of any injures. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.Vice Chairman of PASMA retires from Council
John Bungay, 63, has retired as vice chairman of PASMA, the trade association representing the international mobile access tower industry.
As the representative of Youngman – one of the early manufacturing members to join the fledgling organisation – his involvement spans more than 40 years, during which time, through PASMA, he contributed to the development and introduction of EN 1004, the European standard for towers. PASMA Managing Director, Peter Bennett, said: “John has played a vital role in developing this industry to what it is today. The team at PASMA and all of our members extend their thanks for his contribution and wish him every success in his future endeavours.” An acknowledged tower expert, and at one time Youngman’s product manager for towers, he was instrumental in the launch of the BoSS range of aluminium tower scaffolds – one of the first UK manufactured product to satisfy the requirements of the newly introduced European standard. Comments John: “PASMA is now recognised and respected as the natural focus and authority on towers, not just in the UK, but increasingly overseas. That’s due entirely to the dedication and commitment of the many Council and committee members who have served the Association over the years. It has been my pleasure to work alongside them and of course with PASMA Member Services.” “I wish the Association, and my successor as vice chair, Gillian Rutter, continued success in the future.” John Bungay joined W C Youngman in 1973 and until October 2014 – when the Youngman Group was acquired by Werner Inc. – he served in a variety of senior positions including chairman of Youngman Fork Truck Hire and a director of SGB International and SGB Services. More recently, from 1997 to 2002 he was managing director of SGB UK Sales, and from 2002 to 2005 managing director of SGB Youngman. In 2005 he was appointed business development director of the Youngman Group – a post he held until last year when he left the company to form Agendis Business Consultants Ltd.Cape Wins New Contract on Teesside
Cape wins five year multi-million pound contract with Conocophillips UK on Teesside
Cape has announced the award of a new contract with ConocoPhillips UK Limited. The contract will provide fabrication, mechanical, engineering and instrumentation services to the ConocoPhillips facility at Seal Sands on Teesside. The initial term of this multi-million pound contract is 5 years and Cape is mobilising on site with immediate effect. Cape is delighted to build on its existing relationship with ConocoPhillips through the award of this Contract.Commenting on the contract award Joe Oatley, Chief Executive of Cape, said “I am delighted that Cape has been able to secure this important contract and we look forward to developing our relationship with ConocoPhillips further”.
OBO Scaffolding and Traffic Management Solutions to merge
Two Suffolk companies have joined forces to form a new contracting business.
The combined operation, now operating at TBF Contracting, brings together OBO Scaffolding and Traffic Management Solutions (TMS), both based in Ipswich. OBO and TMS already work closely together within the Needham Market-based BTS Group, the UK’s largest independent firm of utility tree surgeons. The merger and formation of a new company is intended to increase the two firms’ operational efficiency and their ability to serve their private and public sector clients. Hal McCallum, managing director of both TBF Contracting and the BTS Group, said: “Creating TBF gives us flexibility to respond to our customer’s needs and the best opportunity to respond to a rapidly increasing demand for our services across the UK. “With a commitment to causing zero harm, bts Group is a leader in the development of safety standards in arboriculture. “We will take the same ‘no-compromise’ approach to safety in the potentially high-risk areas of traffic management and scaffolding.” With new, larger offices and improved facilities at sites on the Boss Hall Industrial Estate in Ipswich and the Lion Barn Industrial Estate in Needham Market, the companies will work in association with BTS Group and will continue to provide the same range of services under the TBF new name. OBO, a leading provider of scaffolding within the East of England, was founded in 1976. TMS has been a leading UK specialist of traffic management since 2001. OBO joined the BTS Group in 2013, and TMS in 2014.Safety & Access Ltd celebrate 25 Years of supporting industry
Safety & Access Ltd are celebrating 25 Years of supporting industry with update days at their Nottingham and Humber Training Facilities.
The Company was formed in 1991 in Nottingham, to provide an independent scaffold inspection as a joint venture between the UK Scaffolding Company SGB and Hinton & Higgs Ltd, Europe’s largest Construction Health and Safety Consultancy.
The range of services soon expanded to include Scaffold Inspection training, the Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme (CISRS) range of skill training, scaffolding consultancy advice and PASMA lightweight aluminium tower scaffolding training.
Safety and Access Ltd continues to grow and expand its services to all industries and in mid-2012 they opened an additional fully accredited training facility in the Humber region offering CISRS and PASMA accreditation for work at height and scaffolding related training.
In 2013 the Company further expanded its international training portfolio by opening CISRS facilities for international accreditation in the Middle East and Far East. Further international expansion plans are in place for other regions.
Today Safety & Access Ltd are regarded as one of the leading scaffolding and work at height training providers and consultancy services specialising in the UK and International markets. The company can include some of the largest UK and International businesses amongst its client base.
Safety & Access Ltd are celebrating 25 Years of supporting industry with update days at their Nottingham and Humber Training Facilities.
Humber – June 9th 2016 | Nottingham – September 7th 2016
The days feature input from CISRS and NASC along with presentations from the largest principal contractors in the UK. There will also be trade stands, demonstrations and attractive offers and incentives.
If you would like to attend please email [email protected] for a formal invitation Actavo takes to the air for safer surveys
Actavo uses Drones for safer site surveys
industrial services provider, Actavo Industrial Solutions, has teamed up with a licensed UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) operator to offer a safe and cost-effective alternative to working at height to carry structural surveys. The initiative comes in response to growing interest from Actavo’s customer base, and one of the first joint projects to be undertaken is an aerial survey of the towers at a CCGT power station. Actavo’s partner in the venture is Rotherham-based Vertex Air, which is licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to commercially fly UAVs – more commonly known as drones. Working with Vertex, Actavo has the capability to offer detailed external structural surveys to its customers across the petrochemical, power, oil and gas, marine, nuclear power, pharmaceutical and offshore sectors. The UAV services offer an alternative to the conventional approach of using scaffolding or rope access. Explaining the benefits of using UAVs to carry out this work, Actavo business development executive, Anthony Eyre, says: “This approach offers a number of benefits, the main one from our point of view being the avoidance of risk. A key requirement of health and safety legislation is the elimination of risk wherever possible, and using drones means that we can carry out survey work without having people working at height. It also means that we can reach places which would otherwise involve investment in a full scaffold, and even parts of plants or structures that are inaccessible by humans. This, in turn, translates into a more cost-effective service for our customers. Drone surveys can be set up and carried out quickly, they are highly accurate, and their use means that the customer only has to pay for scaffolding or rope access in places where the need for structural work has already been identified.” Vertex operates eight-rotor octo-drone UAVs, fitted with the latest GPS technology and high-resolution cameras, which can hover without vibration to give the greatest clarity to the images they capture. With minimal set-up time, their battery life gives an average 15 minutes of flight time, depending on weather conditions, with fast battery changes between flights. Stu Martin, director at Vertex, says: “We have built up considerable experience in UAV survey work and invested in technology which gives assessment data in the form of photographic image or 3-D drawings which is as accurate as possible. Each survey is pre-programmed working to site plans to ensure that the data we capture delivers the information required.” As one of the few operators licensed to fly at night, Vertex is also able to offer thermal imaging which can be used for the detection of heat escape from pipework both on structures and underground, which would indicate damage or insulation in need of replacement. Advanced software also gives the UAVs the capability of carrying out site surveys, picking out gradients to show the lay of the land. Anthony Eyre adds: “From discussions with our customers, we can see significant potential for a UAV survey capability. It complements many of the services we offer, including scaffolding and rope access as well as the services provided to the power transmission, distribution sectors, protective coatings and insulation services, particularly where we operate long-term inspection and maintenance contracts. It offers a more flexible approach which has benefits for customers in terms of both time and cost saving, but, above all, it reduces the risk element of having people working at what are often considerable heights.”Scaffold Firm Fined 10K For No Scaffolding Licence
A company has been ordered to pay more than £10,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to erecting scaffolding without a licence.
Local news has reported that Derby Access Scaffolding Ltd, of Church Lane, Barrow on Trent, Derby, pleaded guilty at Leicester Magistrates Court to 14 offences committed between September 2 2015 and February 16 2016. The court was told that the company was erecting or retaining scaffolding at 33 Hamilton Street, Leicester, without a licence issued by Leicester City Council on September 3 2015, September 23 2015, September 30 2015, October 6 2015, October 30 2015 and November 9 2015, at 9 Chandos Street, Leicester on February 12 2016, at Loseby Lane on February 16 2016 and Loseby Lane on February 15 2016 and February 16 2016. Failing to comply with licence conditions by permitting scaffolding to be erected at 9 Chandos Street, Leicester without a toe-board, hand-rail of reflectorised down-pipes on January 21 2016, the same offence committed at the junction of Loseby Lane and Guildhall Lane on February 1 2016, and willful obstruction of Loseby Lane on February 15 2016. John Moss, for Leicester City Council said that the council must allow scaffolding to be put up unless it took the view that it would obstruct the highway, but needed to be covered by a licence which cost £35. “A retrospective licence can be obtained for £100 and it is also possible to apply on-line for a £35 licence.” Guy Carter for Derby Access Scaffolding, told the court that the company had worked perfectly for the past nine years. “There were no problems until this point in time when a valued member of staff went on long-term sickness leave, resulting in chaos. “The director has been put under a great deal of stress.” He said that, in the case of failing to provide toe-boards, hand-rails or reflectorising down-pipes, the scaffolding, once erected, was used by builders who might adjust them or remove them to suit the particular work they were doing and then not replace them afterwards.CISRS Launch Slick Promotional Video
