A national think tank has produced a report calling on the construction industry to do more to recruit women has been backed by a female-led Suffolk scaffolding contractor.
Sally Peck from Lowestoft based Apex Scaffolding wants to encourage more women into the sector, and raise awareness of the interesting and varied career opportunities which the industry offers.
Through offering work experience, supporting other female-led local companies and working with schools she hopes to increase the number of women in the sector in Suffolk. The Smith Institute paper, called Building the future: women in construction, reports that women make up just 11 % of staff in the construction industry, and just 1 % of staff who are based on site.
Sally commented:
“We are now emerging from what has been a tough time for the industry, but economic growth will increase demand for skilled workers, so the industry should be doing more right now to encourage women into the sector. The variety in the sector is vast, and the skills needed are wide-ranging. “All of the women I know in construction are fantastic at their jobs and deliver a very high standard of work.
“It is true that women have to work harder to prove ourselves and to gain credibility, although I don’t believe that is necessarily a bad thing. I’d rather earn the trust and respect of my clients and change any preconceptions they may have about women through the service my business delivers.”
“Both Apex Scaffolding and our sister company Apex Roofing have strong female leaders, and we have seen a fantastic start to the year in terms of work coming in and projects finishing and we’re feeling very positive for the year ahead.” The Smith report calls for leaders from within he sector to champion the case for change, an increase in mentoring and peer support for women entering the industry, more government support for programmes designed to support women coming into the industry and better careers advice in schools.
Two scaffolding firms have won prestigious accolades at this years Construction News Specialist Awards held in London.
The tenth Construction News Specialist Awards 2014 took place on March 19th at the London Hilton on Park Lane in London. Over 650 of the UK’s leading specialist contractors took part to recognise and celebrate the very best specialist contractors across the UK.
Chris Sedgeman Scaffolding Ltd Wins Project Of The Year 2014
Cornish scaffolding contractor Chris Sedgeman Scaffolding Ltd picked up the Project Of The Year 2014 (in the subcontract up to 500K category), for their incredible work on South Crofty Tin Mine (Scaffolding Pyramid)
Chris Sedgeman of Chris Sedgeman Scaffolding Ltd said:
“We are extremely pleased to have been given this coveted award for Project of the Year. The contract at South Crofty tin mine has been a real team effort and has attracted a lot of interest, understandably. The pyramid scaffold there featured more than 9000 Plettac System Components, 8000 boards, 20,000 fittings and 3,300 scaffold tubes. It’s been a massive task, and one we have all relished taking part in and to be given this accolade by Construction News is absolutely superb.”
Allied Scaffolding Ltd Wins Access & Scaffolding Specialist Award 2014
Manchester based Allied Scaffolding Ltd scooped the 2014 Access & Scaffolding Specialist Award, for their outstanding work on Manchester Town Hall and a strong commitment to the local community.
James Brierley, Managing Director of Allied Scaffolding Ltd said:
“We are delighted to have won the award, and would like to thank Construction News, and our hard working staff. Thanks also to Laing O’Rourke and Manchester Council for giving us the opportunity on the Town Hall Transformation Project. It was a great night. Well done to all award winners.”
For a full list of 2014 finalists, award winners and images from the event, visit: www.cnspecialistsawards.com
XERVON Palmers, has been awarded a prestigious safety award for scaffolding and access work on Heathrow Airport.
Scaffolding contractor, XERVON Palmers, has been awarded a prestigious Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) safety award – for their extensive scaffolding and access work on the new multi-million pound Terminal 2B “Queen’s Terminal” project. It is understood this is the first time a scaffolding contractor has won one of the coveted HAL awards.
The HAL awards have twelve categories (Behavioral Safety Champion, Training Initiative, Leadership, Innovation, Team, Team Support, Project, Individual, Safety Professional, Supervisor, Design and Health) and are designed to recognise all those who have made an “outstanding contribution to health & safety within development in 2013 at Heathrow Airport.” XERVON Palmers won an award in the ‘Designing for Safety’ category – which acknowledged the design and safe construction of a scaffold which was built during nightshifts, within a high risk environment, where care and attention to detail had to be ensured or works could potentially have affected the control and lighting of all the take-off and landing runways at the airport.
The HAL awards were presented by John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow Development Director and David Pyle, Heathrow Head of Safety at an Award’s ceremony in London earlier this Spring and XERVON Palmers were represented by the scaffolding nightshift foreman and two of the airport division’s workforce.
Ian McFarlane, Director for Business & Project Development at XERVON Palmers said:
“This is a great tribute to our workforce and support staff who deliver access & scaffolding daily at Heathrow. Our thanks and big well done to all involved for their hard work in achieving this excellent award.”
And Donald Morrison, CEO of XERVON Palmers added:
“We are all very proud of the quality of our work at Heathrow’s Terminal T2B and of the attentive safety culture associated with that – delivering high quality scaffolding and access solutions, 100% safely, within a challenging work environment.”
A still image from CCTV showing the unsafe scaffolding work.
A Hertfordshire scaffolding firm has been fined for a catalogue of safety failings – including throwing and catching fittings over the heads of shoppers – as scaffolders erected two scaffolds outside an Oxford department store.
Darren Baker Scaffolding Limited also failed to ensure the structures outside Debenhams on George Street and Magdalen Street were properly configured, braced and tied, which undermined their stability.
The Cheshunt-based company was prosecuted today (17 March) by the Health and Safety Executive after an investigation uncovered a series of issues.
They included:
Metal fittings were thrown from a flatbed lorry over the heads of passers-by – as captured by CCTV
Heavy scaffold poles were also hoisted above shoppers with no thought to their safety
Pedestrians were forced to walk into the road to avoid the activity, with no measures in place to protect them from passing vehicles
The two scaffolds were not built to an approved safe design and were inadequately braced and tied
They were also poorly configured, with the potential for overloading parts of the structure, and loads could not be transferred safely to the ground
The scaffolds were erected on the morning of Sunday 30 September 2012 when there was significant footfall in the area.
Oxford Magistrates’ Court heard that although nobody was injured, either from the work or from a collapse or fall, the activity was inherently unsafe.
HSE established that as a result of the failings there was a significant risk that the scaffold could have collapsed.
Darren Baker Scaffolding Limited, of Turners Hill, Cheshunt, Herts, was fined a total of £10,000 and ordered to pay a further £760 in costs after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and four breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
After the hearing HSE inspector Peter Snelgrove commented:
“The issues here are two-fold. There were clear concerns with the manner in which the scaffolds were erected, as captured by CCTV. Then there are the failings with the structures themselves, the fact they weren’t built to an approved design and were inadequately tied and braced.
“All scaffolds should be erected in a safe manner, but the risks are magnified when you are working in a busy city centre location with lots of traffic and pedestrians, as was the case here.
“Little thought was given to shoppers as fittings and poles were tossed or passed over their heads, and today’s conviction serves to illustrate the seriousness of the failings we uncovered. Thankfully nobody was injured, but that is the only saving grace.”
Graham Maddocks, 9 December 1943 – 25 February 2014
Graham Maddocks, a well known and hugely respected industry figure has sadly died aged 70.
Mr Maddocks was a champion of the access industry who was dedicated to improving standards, working methods and safety. He worked as Chief Engineer at SGB before transferring to Harsco Infrastructure after it acquired the business.
Mr Maddocks served for many years on the technical committee of the National Association of Scaffolding Contractors (NASC) and various British Standards Institution (BSl) technical and drafting committees. He was a much respected chairman of several of these committees.
According to a memorial posted online by PASMA, During his career he mentored a great many scaffolding and formwork engineers, a role he found extremely rewarding and one that gave him particular pleasure. Graham would consistently make himself available, often at short notice, to help and advise anyone who needed support, guidance and information.
View PASMA’s memorial post here.
ScaffMag sends its condolences to Graham’s family,friends and work colleagues at such a difficult time.
Funeral Arrangements
The funeral is set to take place on Monday, 17th March 2014 at St Richard’s Chapel, Surrey & Sussex Crematorium, Balcolmbe Road, Crawley, RH10 3NG.
If you wish to attend the funeral, please RSVP to either Jason Black ([email protected]), Steve Prower ([email protected]) or Ken Barber ([email protected]).
No flowers have been requested by the family, but a donation can be made at the chapel which will go to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Any cheques should be made payable to the charity, or online donations can be carried out here. Please leave a note in the collection box with your name if you donate online.
Further details and directions to the service are available in a PDF; please click here.
Cape plc, the international provider of critical support services to the energy and mineral resources sectors, announces today that it has acquired UK-based Motherwell Bridge, a leading provider of storage tanks, gas holders and heat exchangers to the energy and steel markets.
The total consideration for the acquisition amounts to £37.65 million on a cash free, debt free basis, comprising of an initial cash consideration of £34.0 million, debt of £0.9 million, deferred consideration of £1.25 million contingent on a key contract win and up to £1.5 million related to future performance. The acquisition will be funded from the Group’s existing debt facilities and is expected to be earnings enhancing in the current financial year ending 31 December 2014.
Motherwell Bridge, headquartered in Lanarkshire, Scotland, is recognised internationally as a leader in the specialist storage tank market. The business has an excellent global brand reputation and has historically delivered a significant number of storage tanks around the world. In addition, Motherwell Bridge also provides and maintains gasholders for the global steel industry, and maintains and refurbishes heat exchangers primarily in the UK continental shelf. Motherwell Bridge has a strong management team, all of whom will remain with the business post acquisition.
Motherwell Bridge employs approximately 300 people, primarily located in the UK. For the year ending 31 December 2012, Motherwell Bridge generated EBITA of £4.8 million on a revenue of £34.6 million. Its gross assets as at 31 December 2012 were £42.4 million.
Commenting on the acquisition, Joe Oatley CEO of Cape said:
“The acquisition of Motherwell Bridge is in line with Cape’s strategy to broaden our portfolio of critical industrial services. Motherwell Bridge has tremendous expertise, reputation and brand recognition in the oil and gas storage tank market, including a market leading position in the UK and we expect to accelerate Motherwell Bridge overseas growth through Cape’s international footprint. By combining the strengths of Cape and Motherwell Bridge we are uniquely able to provide a complete tank maintenance solution to clients in the oil and gas market.”
What defects should I look for in wooden scaffold boards?
To ensure maximum life, scaffold boards must be checked regularly. It should be noted that cross cutting a graded board to a shorter length does not affect the structural integrity or grade of the board and as a result, it will still comply with BS 2482:2009; if the board has been either visually or machine graded it will have been graded along the full length. Any defects (unless outlined below) will still remain within the allowance.
Here is a checklist for ensuring your scaffold boards remain free from defects and in the best possible condition for use on your site:
If a board shows signs of being accidentally dropped or otherwise abused (e.g. run over) it should be discarded
Any board with signs of rot or decay should be discarded
End bands should be checked to ensure they are still secure, and fixed or replaced if necessary
Boards should be stored in the dry and should have any concrete spillage carefully removed
All nails, screws, e.g. Hilti nails should be removed and the board checked for damage.
Splits should be checked. Any split must not be deeper than 12mm in thickness. If a split is deeper than this, it should be no more than 225mm long. Splits of less than 225mm may then be repaired using nail plates. Boards with splits longer than this should be cut down. Splits running across the face are not permitted and the board should be cut down to remove any damage
Any cut should be ‘superficial’, which means no deeper than 2mm
Any board that has been notched should be cut down to remove the notch
Any boards stored for a period of time should be regularly checked for signs of decay, particularly watching out for fungus and wet rot. Ideally, stored boards should have access to a regular clean airflow. Boards should not be left ‘close piled’ for more than 3 months. If the anticipated storage is for longer, then the boards should be stored with ‘sticks’ in-between every layer to allow air circulation
View or download our technical information on BSI graded scaffold boards by clicking here.
A maintenance services company has won a major contract to supply and install scaffolding to the Western Australian (LNG) Ichthys Project.
Australia-based maintenance services company AGC, has reported that its subsidiary company MAS Australasia Pty Ltd (MAS), has been awarded a $155 million (AUD 174 million) scaffolding works contract for the Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG Project in the Browse Basin off Western Australia.
MAS will be providing scaffolding assets comprising management, design and engineering, scaffolding material supply and installation services to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) process and inlet areas at the Ichthys Project Onshore LNG Facilities at Blaydin Point in Darwin, Northern Territory for lead onshore contractor JKC Australia LNG Pty Ltd (JKC).
JKC has been contracted to deliver the engineering procurement and construction of the onshore LNG facilities including the gas processing plant at Blaydin Point.
CEO and Managing Director Stuart Kenny said:
“With decades of experience providing scaffolding and access services, MAS brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the project. We are excited to work with JKC to deliver another project of excellence, as we continue to build our maintenance business within the Oil & Gas market”.
With an expected operational life of more than 40 years, the Ichthys LNG Project is a Joint Venture between Inpex group companies (the Operator), major partner Total and the Australian subsidiaries of Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas. With the award of this contract, AGC’s parent company AusGroup Limited’s order book now stands at $345 million (AUD 388 million).
News Source: Rigzone.com
Chris Sedgeman Scaffolding Ltd supplied and installed over 35 tons of scaffolding to help rebuild damaged rail infrastructure and sea-defences.
During the first half of February parts of Britain were hit by a huge atlantic storms which battered coastlines and overwhelmed sea-defences. In Dawlish, Devon the storms destroyed a section of the sea wall and left the railway to Cornwall suspended in mid-air.
Chris Sedgeman Scaffolding was contacted on Thursday 6th February following the huge atlantic storm which resulted in a large section of railway line in Dawlish being washed away and houses being unstable.
Staff at Chris Sedgeman Scaffolding worked all over the weekend preparing for commencing works which they started on the following Monday and worked continually around the clock to Thursday 13th before the next storm hit.
Lynn Way Company Secretary & Financial Manager for Chris Sedgeman Scaffolding Ltd said:
“We commenced works on the 70m long cable bridge with two access staircases and used 35 tons of scaffolding in the first few days.
We have subsequently erected 75m of edge protection along the sea wall; access walkways to the houses; sea wall access scaffold and a temporary shelter”.
Works are still on-going.
Do you have an interesting project running ? Let ScaffMag know by submitting here.
After a huge investment from the NASC and two years work in the making, TG20:13 has finally been launched for general sale.
The long awaited TG20:13 guidance has today (25th February) been launched by the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) at an event in the centre of London.
With an estimated development cost of around £600,000 and two years hard work from CADS & NASC, TG20:13 (Technical Guidelines for tube and fitting scaffolding) has been produced with support from the HSE,UKCG and CITB. The new guidance replaces TG20:08 which will be officially withdrawn 30th June 2014.
ScaffMag travelled down to London to cover the media launch seminar that was held at the prestigious Centerpoint building in the heart of the city.
NASC Managing Director Robin James introduced the 70+ invited guests to the new revolutionary guidance with in depth presentations from Terry Roberts (CADS) and Simon Hughes (Simian Risk).
Both gave great informative presentations of the guidance and demonstrated the amazing and quite magical eGuide.
During his presentation Simon Hughes commented:
“TG20:13 will be one of the biggest changes within the scaffolding industry in recent times. Many grey areas have now become black and white with the release of this revolutionary guidance.”
Simon also added: “The release of this document will be a steep learning curve for the scaffolding industry.”
While the scaffolding industry gets to grips with the new guidance the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) have announced they will not in-force TG20:13 during a so called “Bedding In” period.
To help bring scaffolding contractors across the country up to speed with the new guidance the NASC have produced Tool box talk videos and a eGuide FAQ that can be found here.
Non NASC members prices for the new suite will be:
TG20:13 Full Suite £995.00 +VAT
TG20:13 eGuide £500.00 +VAT
TG20:13 Operational Guide £250.00
TG20:13 Design Guide £250.00
TG20:13 Pocket User Guide £6.00
Purchasers of standalone TG20:13 publications are required to have previously ordered the full suite first.
All elements of TG20:13 are available to buy NOW from the NASC websiteTG20:13 Full Suite Includes:
TG20:13 Operational Guide. A full-colour, brand new, 224-page guide containing detailed practical guidance for most common types of scaffolding supported by structural research and calculation. Guidance is provided for an expanded range of standard structures which includes independent scaffolding, interior birdcages, chimney stack scaffolds, loading bays, ladder-access towers, free-standing towers, lift shaft towers and putlog scaffolding. A NEW range of TG20 ‘compliance sheets’ is included for these structures.
TG20:13 Design Guide. Intended predominantly for engineers and designers, this 206-page document provides technical data, commentary, and source material for use by competent and suitably qualified scaffold designers in circumstances which are outside the scope of standard solutions provided in the TG20:13 Operational Guide and TG20:13 e-Guide software.
TG20:13 e-Guide. Designed for Mac, PC and tablet use, making it extremely easy to check scaffolds for TG20:13 compliance digitally, with user-friendly software which will facilitate printing and circulation of details of TG20 compliant structures by email. The TG20:13 e-Guide calculates and prints compliance sheets for TG20 compliant scaffolding. It allows TG20 to incorporate a wide range of scaffolding configurations, and calculates safe heights, tie duties and leg loads.
TG20:13 User Guide. A 32-page, full-colour pocket guide in A6 format. This document summarises clearly the requirements for TG20 compliant scaffolding and offers indispensable guidance to the scaffolding operative on-site.
Sally Peck from Lowestoft based Apex Scaffolding wants to encourage more women into the sector, and raise awareness of the interesting and varied career opportunities which the industry offers.
Through offering work experience, supporting other female-led local companies and working with schools she hopes to increase the number of women in the sector in Suffolk. The Smith Institute paper, called Building the future: women in construction, reports that women make up just 11 % of staff in the construction industry, and just 1 % of staff who are based on site.
Sally commented:
“We are now emerging from what has been a tough time for the industry, but economic growth will increase demand for skilled workers, so the industry should be doing more right now to encourage women into the sector. The variety in the sector is vast, and the skills needed are wide-ranging. “All of the women I know in construction are fantastic at their jobs and deliver a very high standard of work.
“It is true that women have to work harder to prove ourselves and to gain credibility, although I don’t believe that is necessarily a bad thing. I’d rather earn the trust and respect of my clients and change any preconceptions they may have about women through the service my business delivers.”
“Both Apex Scaffolding and our sister company Apex Roofing have strong female leaders, and we have seen a fantastic start to the year in terms of work coming in and projects finishing and we’re feeling very positive for the year ahead.” The Smith report calls for leaders from within he sector to champion the case for change, an increase in mentoring and peer support for women entering the industry, more government support for programmes designed to support women coming into the industry and better careers advice in schools. 
James Brierley, Managing Director of Allied Scaffolding Ltd said:
