The Voice of Scaffolding Since 2008 | U.K. Edition
Deborah Services gains £150m contract with Babcock
Deborah Services Limited (DSL) has been awarded a five year contract worth £150m with Babcock International, making DSL the marine sector’s largest industrial services provider in the UK.
DSL’s new strategic partnership will see an 800-strong team deployed across Babcock’s facilities at Appledore and Devonport, as well as Rosyth, Faslane and Coulport in Scotland.
DSL will deliver several industrial services including access solutions, containment, blasting, priming, painting and large-scale industrial cleaning.
Sean Corkery, chief executive officer of Siteserv said:“This is a milestone contract for us and marks a transformation for our business in the UK, one of our key growth markets. As a blue chip PLC, Babcock is a prime customer and we look forward to partnering with them on this and future projects.”
Chris Foulkes, managing director of DSL industrial services, said:
“This is the biggest contract ever awarded to an industrial services provider in the UK within this sector. We are delighted to be partnering with such a prestigious customer as Babcock International Group having delivered business-critical operational excellence in the UK for nearly fifty years.
He added: “Industrial Services takes particular pride in our safety record, for which we have won numerous awards. A key part of our tender is how we combine sustainability with innovation when servicing challenging sectors such as petrochemical, oil, gas and nuclear. As with any contract, it will evolve over the years and there is already a strong spirit of partnership between both parties.”
A spokesperson for Babcock International Group said: “DSL’s experience across multiple sectors, relentless focus on safety and commitment to innovation mean they are the right partner for Babcock International Group now and into the future.”
DSL was established 48 years ago and is part of the Siteserv group, a leading international strategic operations partner. The group employs over 4,500 people in 100 locations worldwide.
Avontus Announces Plettac Metrix System Scaffold Support
In its continued commitment to the UK scaffolding market, Avontus has announced that its Scaffold Designer software can design and estimate TRAD Hire & Sales’ Plettac Metrix System Scaffolding.
The Plettac Metrix suite of components is available today for all Scaffold Designer end-users. No software upgrade or additional purchase is required. “We finished full Plettac Metrix support in a few weeks”, says Avontus CEO and Founder Brian Webb. “Scaffold Designer was built from the ground up to easily add systems scaffolding from any manufacturer.” In just a few button clicks Scaffold Designer can fully support the Plettac Metrix product catalogue. Scaffold Designer’s flexibility allows you to create very complex structures, like buttresses, without double counting any of the parts.Big Ben Could Be Covered in Scaffolding for a Year.
Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower may need to be covered in scaffolding for a year if rumors are true.
Recent media reports have suggested that Big Ben could fall silent if repairs costing upto £40M are not carried out. It has been 31 years since the 156-year-old clock tower had its last overhaul. News outlet Gizmodo has today reported Big Ben could be covered in scaffolding for 12 months after a leaked Commons report was discovered over the weekend. The article goes on to report that the clock’s hands are in danger of stopping dead, while there are also cracks in the tower and issues with metal erosion. The dramatically worded report to MPs said the entire clock mechanism was at risk, adding: “The clock currently has chronic problems with the bearings behind the hands and the pendulum,” reads the report. “Either could become acute at any time, causing the clock to stop – or worse. There are major concerns that if this is not carried out within the next two to three years, the clock mechanism is at risk of failure with the huge risk of international reputational damage for Parliament. In the event of a clock-hand failure, it could take up to a year to repair due to the scaffolding needed.”TATA Excellence Award for XERVON Palmers Supervisor
XERVON Palmers Site Supervisor, Stuart Myers has been presented with an Excellence Award by TATA at their Skinningrove steelworks on Teesside, in the North East of England.
The TATA award has been given in recognition of Stuart’s (and hisScaffolding firm fined £300,000 for manslaughter
A Merseyside scaffolding firm has been fined £300,000 after a worker died at its yard in 2012.
Kings Scaffolding in Liverpool pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter after failing to heed health and safety warnings or take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of employees tasked to carry out work on the roof of the shed at the firm’s yard. Back in September 2012 Kings Scaffolding employee Adrian Smith, 44, had just returned to work on light duties after having a heart attack just days before he died at the firm’s yard in Netherley. While carrying out roof repairs on the company’s storage shed, Adrian fell through a perspex skylight falling more than four meters onto the concrete floor below. He suffered multiple fractures to his skull, a brain injury and fractures to his wrist. Police and paramedics were called to the scene but Mr Smith died later that day in hospital.Video: 30ft Mobile scaffolding tower crashes down onto busy street
Video captures the scene as a 30ft mobile scaffolding tower came crashing down in a high street, narrowly missing cars.
Last Sunday shop owners and traders in a Winchester High Street dashed to move their cars from the path of a collapsing aluminium mobile tower scaffold. Three dosey contractors who had been clearing out gutters on a shop reportedly proceeded to move the 30ft tower from one side to the other without dismantling it. Luckily nobody was hurt in the incident. A spokesperson for the industry trade body for the safe use of mobile access (PASMA) said: “Given the many fundamental errors in the construction, use and movement of the tower evident in this video, it was almost inevitable that it would overturn. To assemble a narrow width tower to that height without stabilisers or tying in is quite simply dicing with death. To then even countenance moving it, is foolhardy beyond belief. We are relieved that there were no injuries or fatalities as a result of this incident. It could so easily have been the case. It is very frustrating that it could so easily have been avoided – by assembling the tower following the instruction manual, installing stabilisers, and reducing the height of the tower to 2m (4m if stabilisers are fitted) before attempting to move it. Mobile access towers are a very safe, efficient and convenient method of working at height but like anything else in the hands of inexperienced or untrained people, they have the potential to be lethal. That’s why PASMA shouts from the rooftops that mobile access towers must be used only by competent people, following the manufacturers’ instruction manual and the PASMA Code of Practice. PASMA training members deliver its Towers for Users training course through a network of over 470 training centres to equip tower users with the necessary skills and knowledge to avoid just such incidents.”Guest Post: Scaffolding in Power Plant Boilers
Nearly 40% of the world’s electricity is generated by coal-fired power plants. With over 2,300 of these power plants worldwide, the impact of maintenance on these plants is great. This article provides a primer on the special needs of scaffolding for coal-fired power plant maintenance.
ELECTRICITY FROM COAL Coal is used as fuel to produce superheated steam. This steam is run through turbines to produce electricity. Under normal operations, residue from coal impurities builds up within the interior surfaces, reducing the efficiency of the power plant. In order to correct this, the typical power plant often goes offline in order to be cleaned and maintained. Scaffolding needs to be built to access just about every internal surface.Scaffold collapse causes London traffic chaos
Scaffolding from a building development in Hayes, West London collapsed on Wednesday afternoon (September 30), causing local road closures and heavy traffic in the area.
The structure, surrounding an apartment block under construction, in Station Road collapsed at around 1pm.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed the incident happened at 12.53pm. There were no injuries and work is under way to remove the scaffolding from the road.