XERVON Palmers nears completion on Heathrow Terminal project

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XERVON Palmers nears completion on Heathrow Terminal project
image001 Scaffolding contractor, XERVON Palmers, is nearing completion on a multi-million, 18-month contract providing bespoke scaffolding and access services for Heathrow Airport’s state-of-the-art new Terminal 2 – aka ‘The Queen’s Terminal.’ The XERVON Palmers work on the T2B site at Heathrow’s T2 – for top construction firm, Balfour Beatty – began in January 2012. And at the project’s peak, XERVON Palmers provided a significant number of skilled scaffolding operatives and scaffolding equipment for the contract on the secure site which is one of the largest airports in Europe. The contract has centred around providing scaffolding services and access solutions for the construction of the new T2B building at the airport in three phases, making way for the construction of a new, 600m long and 35m wide, split-level pier (T2B) and the proposed Heathrow East Terminal (HET). And some of the work has been involved in creating scaffolding underground, to assist in the construction of connecting tunnels for rail services under the T2B building. The access has been provided using a mix of traditional tube and fitting and modern Cuplok and Layher system scaffolding including the creation of large birdcage scaffolds in the T2B’s atriums and escalator constructions. Heathrow Airport deals with over 67 million passengers a year from its five terminals and more than 90 airlines use the airport. Working on such a busy, sensitive site has thrown up unique scaffolding and access challenges for XERVON Palmers – including not interrupting sight lines for the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower or disturbing RADAR signals while working at height, gaining clearance of advanced security systems and organising BAA passes for all of the operatives (a six month process). All site deliveries have been made, using specific pre-set access and egress routes at set times, gaining permit approvals for certain access equipment and clearance of night / weekend / overtime working hours. Furthermore, XERVON Palmers had to adhere to strict risk assessments for working at height, working adjacent to live airport roads and pedestrian routes, working adjacent to live occupied buildings, materials handling, working with access equipment and plant, working in a multiple contractor environment and any extra ordinary working hours. And all XERVON Palmer operatives needed to be briefed on the airport’s extensive emergency arrangements, traffic management systems on site and be up to date with COSHH and manual handling assessments. The XERVON Palmers Divisional Manager for Airports said: “Working on such a sensitive, busy site provides us with plenty of challenges, but XERVON Palmers are experts in aviation scaffolding and access. Sorting out the security, health and safety and logistic issues of working on large airports is something we do year on year and we are well used to – particularly at Heathrow, where we’ve previously worked on all five Terminals and other peripheral buildings providing scaffolding and access. And, personally, I’ve been working on site at Heathrow for many years. We have risen to the challenges, met all site criteria and have almost completed the works without a complication, saving the principal contractor any additional charges caused by security or safety issues. The work itself providing scaffolding and access to support Balfour Beatty’s T2B building work has been exciting and challenging and we have enjoyed being part of such a large scale, modern construction project. It’s just the sort of aviation contract XERVON Palmers love to do.” Ian McFarlane, Director for Business & Project Development at XERVON Palmers said: “We are delighted to have been involved with the works at Heathrow’s T2B, which is a superb, top level de-construction and building project – only made possible by the quality of the scaffolding and access we have professionally provided. Airport works of this scale always require expertise and knowledge when it comes to providing access solutions and our XERVON Palmers team – from management to operatives – have the know-how to make it happen, safely and efficiently.” And Donald Morrison, CEO of XERVON Palmers added: “Having previously worked on Terminal 5 at Heathrow, we had the proficiency and know-how to make this contract work smoothly for principal contractors, Balfour Beatty. The skilled scaffolding and access solutions XERVON Palmers provide is just part of the job. Knowing how to operate and manage large numbers of operatives on a sensitive site like Heathrow is something not every company can do, but it’s the sort of contract we relish taking on and providing successful services for, safely and efficiently.” image002 Terminal 2 is set to open on June 4th 2014 and is being dubbed by the UK’s leading airport as “the latest step in the transformation of Heathrow… designed from the outset with the needs of the individual passenger at its heart and with sustainability as a guiding principle. Terminal 2 is central to Heathrow’s vision of making every journey better. Partner airlines will move closer together to improve flight connections and there will be more natural light and space than you are used to seeing in an airport. It will be an extraordinary new space in its own right – great for airlines and the staff who work there and great for every single passenger.” The XERVON Palmers Heathrow Terminal 2B contract is expected to finish this summer, on time and on budget.  

The NASC release further details on the forthcoming TG20:13

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The NASC release further details on the forthcoming TG20:13
TG2013-NEW The NASC has unveiled further launch details of the forthcoming, influential, all-new TG20:13 scaffolding industry standard technical guidelines – developed in conjunction with technical software experts, CADS. With the endorsement of the UKCG, HSE and CITB, the NASC expects TG20:13 to be taken up by the industry, with principal contractors adopting the guidelines as a minimum requirement – making it an essential tool for the scaffolding sector, whether an NASC member, or not. The objective of TG20 is to provide guidance for everyone in the wider construction industry. It is a user-friendly document which will be essential for the expert and occasional user. The NASC sees it as a vital part of improving standards of all scaffolding. The NASC’s TG20:13 – which will launch in the autumn – is totally re-vamped and will feature three sections:
  • 1. An all-new, user-friendly, 250-page ‘Management Guide,’ with illustrations which encompasses a very wide range of everday scaffolds.The guide provides practical guidance for common types of scaffolding supported by detailed structural research and calculations. Guidance is provided for independent scaffolding (2m/3m lifts), interior birdcages, chimney stack scaffolds, loading bays, ladder-access towers, free-standing towers, lift shaft towers and putlog scaffolding. New ‘compliance sheets’ are also included, supported by structural research and design to BS EN 12811 (see on). The guide includes leg loads for all the scaffolds covered in the guide.
  • 2. A new ‘Design Guide’ for engineers and designers. Guidance for engineers from TG20:08 Volumes 1 and 2 has been amalgamated, edited and updated into the TG20:13 Design Guide. And a design standard for prefabricated (‘Readylock’) transoms has been defined.
  • 3. The exciting, innovative and superbly easy-use, modern, electronic ‘e-Guide’ – serving as a digital “simple pocket reference guide,” making it incredibly easy to check 100’s of different scaffolds for compliance, without the need for additional, costly design work.
Further improvements of TG20:13 over the out-going (but still relevant) TG20:08 technical guidelines include:
  • New technical guidance notes for scaffolding designers ­ including many more types of scaffolds that will be exempt from further design, including loading bays, ladder towers, interior birdcages, bridges and the use of pre-fabricated (‘Readylock’) transom units and high yield scaffold tube. And all will be supplied with leg loads.
  • TG20 ‘Compliance Sheets’ providing a clear summary of the requirements for TG20 scaffolding, to allow easy signing-off and compliance – available in both the Management Guide (paper) and e-Guide (PDF). These will feature safe heights, tie duties, bay lengths, transom spacing, location and other vital criteria.
  • A new, simplified, heavily R&D’d wind map system, with an automatic, accurate wind calculator. And the e-guide automatically calculates your current location, height above sea level and wind speed on site.
  • Outstanding issues with TG20:08 have been resolved, and simplified, the guidance now supports standard working practices fully
  • The new e-Guide will include safe height results, including those with add-ons and Readylock transoms, calculations have been added for scaffolds with doubled standards and a new option has been provided to reduce the tie duty by providing more ties.
Robin James, NASC’s Managing Director said: “We are very excited about the launch of TG20:13. It is a hugely improved, more user-friendly and modernised guidance system, which we are confident our members – and the wider industry – will see as revolutionary. The NASC has invested huge sums of money into the research and development of TG20:13 and aims to resolve some of the areas of TG20:08 that do not match practice. We are very confident it will be a huge success and positively received by members and the wider industry, as it has been in the NASC Regional Member and Council meetings.” NASC President Rob Lynch said: “We are all very positive about TG20:13. And the new e-Guide is especially exciting. It was a risk we took developing this, but it’s exceeded all our expectations. We believe if you are having scaffold on site, you will need the e-Guide; every site should have one. And we believe that the TG20:13 e-Guide will be an essential tool for every site manager and every safety consultant – providing an accessible and reliable reference point for assessing the safety and compliance of scaffolds.” The TG20:13 Management Guide and Design Guide are currently under final review by the NASC and the e-Guide is being completed and tested. Currently, all existing guidance remains valid. The new TG20:13 will be launched by the NASC this autumn.

Innovations: Ropesafe

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Innovations: Ropesafe
Ropesafe Introducing Ropesafe a safe way to raise and lower all scaffolding materials using a gin wheel. For hundreds of years scaffolders have been using the traditional method of tying up materials to pull up with a gin wheel using specific knots.  This comes with the constant inherent risk of materials becoming loose and falling free. Stuart Faulkner a scaffolder for 27 years had a “eureka” moment after witnessing a near miss involving scaffold tubes falling out of the rope at 40ft, narrowly missing members of the public below. Stuart worked on his idea for 5 years and with the help from Presco Components Ropesafe was born. After the years of development Ropesafe is at its lightest and strongest withstanding 300kg of weight during tests carried out by Concord Lifting company. Ropesafe will fit nearly every scaffolding component by simply tightening using a normal scaffold spanner.       Image Gallery:   For more information contact: Ropesafe ltd Tel: 07791800039 Email: [email protected]  

Harsco completes successful London scaffolding project

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Harsco completes successful London scaffolding project
H 129 Westminster college Speed, safety and the ability to work in partnership with other suppliers are among the key characteristics of Harsco Infrastructure’s involvement in a major college refurbishment project in London. Working on behalf of the main project contractor, BAM Construction, Harsco used its CUPLOK® multi-purpose steel scaffold to provide an access system to all facades of the Westminister Kingsway College – a further education college which offers academic and vocational courses for 14-19 year olds and adult learners, and houses the UK’s leading School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts. Harsco also undertook all the design, surveying and calculation work required for two temporary roofing structures which were constructed using HAKI’s roofing solution, HAKITEC® 750. Having worked with HAKI many times in the past, Harsco was ideally placed to complete this aspect of the project and present the client with a single, integrated solution that allowed the refurbishment work to proceed as efficiently and safely as possible. The project involved the re-pointing of brickwork, refurbishment of the Victorian roof structure and chimney stacks, the repair and replacement of windows, the replacement of ventilation equipment and the erection of a new steel-frame building to house new services. “This meant installing the scaffolding during term time when students are around, which made the project more challenging, especially as the college also runs courses during the evenings,” comments Harsco Design Engineer, Adam Samain. “The nature of the college and the fact that there was a primary school adjacent to it, meant that safety was, as ever, a crucial consideration, so we made extensive use of protection fans and sheeted scaffolding to prevent any dropped item incidents. “Things were further complicated by the fact that access was via a courtyard in the central part of the college. In one area we were unable to affix any support on top of a low-level roof, so we designed a beamed gantry deck which was supported from brackets bolted into the brickwork. This then supported the internal access scaffolds, which in turn supported the HAKI temporary roof structures.” The HAKITEC® 750 allowed the client to refurbish the roof coverings despite any adverse weather conditions, and along with the Harsco roof scaffolds it also meant that the chimney stacks could be refurbished safely. A lack of space on the ground meant that the site cabins, scaffold loading and storage deck areas that were required had to be lifted off the ground and housed on a CUPLOK® scaffold gantry. Harsco’s CUPLOK® is a fully galvanised, multi-purpose steel system scaffold for general access, shoring and vertical load support duties. It features a unique node point design which allows up to four components to be connected in one fastening action. The speed of erection which this provides was a significant benefit for this time-critical project. Other advantages included the relatively small number of CUPLOK® components required, which simplified the process of scheduling the right equipment on site, plus the fact that CUPLOK® eliminates the need for ledger braces which gave clearer working areas on the scaffolding platforms.

Cape wins new contracts in the UK and Russia

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Cape wins new contracts in the UK and Russia
Cape plc have today announced the award of new contracts with Cargill, Lukoil and Vestas valued at approximately £10m. Cargill, the international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services, has selected Cape as their chosen supplier for the provision of industrial cleaning services on their Liverpool capefeaturedand Manchester sites based on Cape’s service offering and expertise. This three year contract positions Cape as one of Cargill’s Select Suppliers in Europe. Vestas, the international wind energy group, has selected Cape to provide the cleaning and painting maintenance services for their UK Wind Turbines, utilising Cape’s extensive in-house rope access knowledge and expertise. The contract is for three years with two additional one year options. Lukoil, a major international vertically-integrated oil & gas company, has selected Cape to provide refractory services on their new FCCU plant. During this 18 month fixed term project Cape will supply technical expertise, together with the supply and installation of refractory materials for their Stream 2 facility in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Stream 1 was completed successfully by York Linings in 2009. This award reflects Cape’s strategic objective to broaden its services portfolio through the extension of specialist refractory linings services across the Group. Steve Connolly, Managing Director of Cape UK, Europe and CIS commented: “We are delighted to be awarded these contracts in recognition of our commitment to continue to deliver value to our clients through our focus on HSEQ performance, efficiency and sustainability.”

Senior Scaffolding Training Instructor Retires After 17 Years Of Service

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Senior Scaffolding Training Instructor Retires After 17 Years Of Service
Joint Managing Director Ray Johnson presents John with gifts and best wishes.
Joint Managing Director Ray Johnson presents John with gifts and best wishes.
Gifts and best wishes were presented to Safety and Access employee John Campbell after 17 years of service to the company.
Staff at Safety and Access Ltd were together to wish Senior Instructor, John Campbell their best wishes for his recent retirement. John is one of the longest serving employees with the company at 17 years and is looking forward to pursuing his hobby of carp fishing.
John has delivered CISRS and other training to thousands of people over the years ranging from scaffolder skills and management and supervisory training.
At an informal gathering at the Nottingham Centre John was presented with several gifts from his colleagues. The staff and directors of Safety and Access would like to thank John for his invaluable contribution to the development and success of the company and wish him a long and happy retirement as well as a successful carp fishing career!

Guest design article: What is Effective Length ?

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Guest design article: What is Effective Length ?
  Image5

Guest Technical Article By IDH, The Independent Design House

IDH was incorporated in July 2011 and established to provide specialist Scaffold Design, Formwork Design & general Temporary Works Design consultancy serving Sub-Contractors, Main Contractors and Client developers.

What is Effective Length?

Effective length is a critical concept in Structural Design for all structural members such as Steel UC and UB sections, reinforced concrete columns and scaffold tubes.  Its technical definition is ‘the length of a component which is effectively restrained’. When designing structural members they can be subject to a number of forces such as Shear, Tension, Compression, Torsion and combinations of these to name but a few.  Generally speaking, when we look at structural members, be it beams or struts, the Compressive force element is predominant in determining the structural capacity and the failure mechanism.
Example 1:
Image1 In this example, if the ends of the strut are held in place in all directions then the effective length Le is equal to the length of strut.
Example 2:
Image2 Now if we introduce a support in the middle and prevent it from moving in all directions, the Le becomes half the strut length.  This is critical, if we started for example with a scaffold tube of 2m it would have a strut capacity of 29.1 kN (TG20:08 Table 20).  By reducing the effective length to 1.0m the strut capacity increases to 58.6 kN.
Example 3:
Image3 If we now fix one end of the tube in to concrete say so that it cannot pivot or rotate, although the length of the tube is still 2m, it now has an Le of 1.4m.  So our 2m tube in the last example can carry 45.3 kN – much more than a tube of the same length restrained as the first example. In scaffolds, the same principles apply.  If we have a 2m lift ledger braced pair of standards, with each end of each pair prevented from moving left and right, the effective length would be 2.0m.  However we seldom have this scenario in scaffolds – we have every other pair of standards ledger braced, we have ties on varying lifts and we typically only sway brace the outside face.  Meaning, on closer review, we have lots of different standards with lots of different end fixity conditions resulting in lots of different effective lengths throughout the scaffold arrangement.  This results in different standards having different load capacities and the global capacity of the scaffold limited to the single standard with the worst leg load / effective length ratio. For more explanation on this and other technical scaffold design subjects visit the IDH blog: http://www.idh-design.co.uk/blog/ Author: Tim Burt

Altrad NSG Gains Gold Medal For Safety Excellence

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Altrad NSG Gains Gold Medal For Safety Excellence
NSGSCAFF Scaffolding and industrial services firm Altrad NSG has achieved its eighth consecutive Gold Standard for excellence in health and safety. The Deeside based firm, which operates at sites across the UK, was awarded a Gold Medal for Occupational Health & Safety, by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). The award was presented by RoSPA to recognise the company’s achievement and commitment to raising the standards of health and safety management at its Ineos Chlor site in Runcorn. Altrad NSG is now setting its sights on two more years of continuous health and safety success to achieve a RoSPA President’s Award – presented to organisations who achieve 10 or more years of consecutive Gold standard. Paul Hemingway, Health and Safety Advisor at Altrad NSG, said: “Safety is paramount to the business so we are delighted to be recognised with our eighth consecutive RoSPA Gold Award. Alongside our British Safety Council Five Star Award and Sword of Honour, it demonstrates to our clients and potential customers that we are a responsible and conscientious business that places health and safety as top priority. “We have 140 staff at our Ineos Chlor site, providing multi-discipline maintenance works including scaffolding, rope access, painting and industrial cleaning, as well as thermal insulation and sheet metal work, together with road gritting, rigging and slinging and high pressure water jetting. We had to provide RoSPA with strong evidence of best practice health and safety management, highlighting our excellent track record over the past year. This continuing success has only been achievable because of the commitment to health and safety from all site operatives and the Site Management Team.” David Dawlins, RoSPA Award Manager, said: “RoSPA firmly believes that organisations that demonstrate commitment to continuous improvement in accident and ill health prevention deserve recognition. Altrad NSG Limited – Ineos Site Runcorn has shown that it is committed to striving for such continuous improvement and we are delighted to honour it through the presentation of an award.” Ineos Chlor is a leading global manufacturer of chlorine and PVC – its Runcorn site is the company’s biggest in the UK. Will Gretton, Altrad NSG Health and Safety Manager, added: “We have also had our Asbestos Ancillary Licence for scaffolding renewed until 2016 – few other scaffolders hold this license and we have had to undergo rigorous assessment by the HSE. This means we are able to continue to provide access to asbestos removal sites and is another endorsement of our quality and robust health and safety procedures. “We are continuing to invest in training across the workforce and have just completed Asbestos Awareness, Risk Assessment and Manual Handling training courses for the whole of the Altrad NSG workforce.” Altrad NSG works with a range of blue chip construction clients, providing scaffolding and rope access systems, insulation, painting, coatings, blasting and industrial cleaning. Core sectors include on and offshore oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, power generation (including nuclear), steel production, shipbuilding, rail and civil infrastructure. In 2011 the business was purchased by French based multinational Altrad SA.  

Cape announces collaborative supply agreement with HAKI

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Cape announces collaborative supply agreement with HAKI
haki system Official confirmation has been announced today that Cape will be supplying and installing the HAKI system scaffolding over other systems.  It’s official.. Cape plc have today confirmed with a press release that the firm will be using HAKI system scaffolding over other competing system products. Cape Plc today released this statement: Cape plc, the international provider of essential support services to the energy and mineral resources sectors, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a collaborative supply agreement with the system scaffolding specialist HAKI. Cape erects or dismantles over 2,000 individual scaffolds a day. Any efficiency that can be introduced to that process will ultimately improve the service clients receive. In early 2013 Cape carried out a robust review of various scaffolding systems in the UK market. ‘’Our scaffolding teams work in a huge variety of different locations, each with their own particular technical challenges.’’ explains Simon Hicks, Capes UK Head of Strategic Development. ‘’Finding an intelligent solution that could improve our performance in a safe and reliable way was key.’’ After a thorough review, the HAKI® Universal System was selected to be the best solutions that meet the needs and requirements of Cape and its clients. The HAKI system benefits from many unique features such as fewer contact points and larger bay sizes which help increase productivity. As Simon explains, ‘’we chose HAKI because of the excellent safety features of the system. It’s a high-quality, Swedish-engineered product, and we get great technical support from HAKI’s UK-based team. Deployed in the right place, we believe that the HAKI system is more efficient and delivers greater productivity gains than other systems on the market, and our people really like using it.’’ HAKI’s Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Chris Stokes commented: ‘’HAKI is proud to be chosen as Cape’s principle supplier of system scaffold, after a demanding selection process this is a great endorsement. This investment reinforces Cape’s powerful scaffolding and access service offering and demonstrates the effectiveness of HAKI for demanding industrial applications.’’ Case Study Cape has already started to implement the HAKI system, with the south sphere on the Polimeri Europa site in Hythe, being one of the notable successes. Access was required to the sphere structure to remove its fireproof coating and to carry out radiography testing. The Cape team built a large internal scaffold using collective measures and meeting requirements of SG4:10. Feedback from the client was positive, who told cape they were impressed with the ‘’monstrous but beautiful scaffold’’. Press release source: http://www.capeplc.com/news-and-media/news-announcements/2013/6/cape-enters-collaborative-supply-agreement-with-haki.aspx  

Harsco opens new scaffolding training center in Immingham

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Harsco opens new scaffolding training center in Immingham

harsco office

Harsco Infrastructure has opened a new training centre in Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, UK The centre has full Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme (CISRS) accreditation, allowing the company to deliver higher standards of training and professional development to its employees. The System Scaffold Product Training Scheme courses available at the centre will include both theory and practical training sessions on Harsco’s own Cuplok system. The centre will initially provide two day training courses for up to nine delegates at a time. Plans are now in hand to extend the availability of the training to other parts of the country, including customer sites. Harsco Infrastructure UK’ managing director Steve Farmer said: “We have a very long history of providing our employees with the very best training that’s available, and our new training centre is simply the next step in that on-going process. We firmly believe that a trained and qualified operative is a safe operative, and the new training centre is an example of the belief being translated into action.” Harsco training instructor Cyril Jones added: “CISRS has been the industry standard scaffold training scheme for over 30 years and it’s the preferred scaffolding qualification for many of the leading industry organisations such as the National Access & Scaffolding Confederation. Achieving the CISRS accreditation for the training courses at our new training centre has been a major objective for us, and has involved a rigorous process which has assessed every aspect, from the equipment and facilities available through to the skills and appropriateness of our trainers.”
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