The Access Industry Forum (AIF) have released free working at height videos that was filmed in May at the latest Safety & Health Expo in Birmingham UK.
httpv://youtu.be/P6TSBphnmyc
The Milton Keynes scaffolding collapse What lessons can we learn?
The event was arguably the largest event ever to focus on working at height. The organisations involved in the event included the Department of Work and Pensions, the Health and Safety Executive, the Association of British Insurers, RIBA, IOSH, RoSPA, IIRSM, British Safety Council, RICS, Association for Project Safety, and all 11 trade association members of the Access Industry Forum.
A large number of these presentations and discussions were videoed and are now available free to view online in full here
The air ambulance landed at Sandown Park racecourse on Thursday, June 14, after a call that Network Rail workers had fallen about 15ft from scaffolding on a bridge they were working on.
The men, aged 49 and 52, were taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting.
One had minor head injuries and the other sustained serious chest injuries, according to a spokesman for Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance.
Surrey Police closed the road for several hours as a result of the accident.
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “At about 10am on Thursday, two contractors working on behalf of Network Rail Infrastructure Projects fell from scaffolding being used on a rail bridge at Lower Green Road, Esher.
“Both men were taken to hospital. Network Rail will fully assist the contractor and the Health and Safety Executive in any subsequent investigation and wishes both men a speedy recovery.”
The Health and Safety Executive confirmed it was aware of the incident and had launched an investigation.
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Apex Scaffolding Services (Sussex) was fined £3,000 for safety failings after Joe Murphy, 31, fell to his death in Washington Avenue, St Leonards on Sea.
Director Michael Walsh, from Hastings, and Leslie Hustwayte, a supervisor from St Leonards, were fined £1,500 and £2,000 respectively.
Hastings magistrates ordered them to pay £2,500 costs each, and Apex £5,000.
The court heard the company, based at Court House, Hooe, Battle, had been in trouble over unsafe working practices even before Mr Murphy’s death in August 2009.
In December 2008 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued a Prohibition Notice against the firm and some employees relating to safety breaches on scaffolding.
‘Missing’ hand rails
Such a notice requires work to stop until the issue has been resolved.
But the executive said poor attitude to safety in the organisation had continued.
HSE representatives told Hastings magistrates that Mr Murphy had been constructing a scaffold “over-roof” at the property in St Leonards when he had fallen.
The executive was not able to establish how far he had fallen, but it said an investigation had identified “a number of defects” with the scaffolding at the site, including missing hand rails and incomplete scaffold platforms.
The charges against Apex and Walsh related to a failure to ensure the safety of workers at height and inadequate supervision.
Hustwayte was also prosecuted for failing to use adequate safety equipment.
The company and individuals had pleaded guilty to all charges at a previous hearing.
HSE inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said after the hearing: “HSE and the scaffolding industry have worked together to produce easy-to-follow guidance to help contractors ensure their scaffolding is safe.
“So there is no excuse for compromising safety, as was clearly the case here.”
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Without a doubt, what happens in the global shipping market is of crucial importance and might well have a significant knock-on effect on the scaffolding industry.
We have never seen such volatility in ‘dry van’ shipping rates as we have witnessed over the last few years; with rate swings of over 100% from one quarter to another not uncommon. And the first knock-on effect is, of course, in the overall profitability and, therefore, viability, of the shipping lines themselves. So, ultimately, this is something that is of importance to the scaffolding industry!
Container freight rates on some of the main Asia-Europe routes increased again last month for the third time in as many months piling pressure on shippers after the previous large rate hikes. Furthermore, it would appear that the shipping lines were able to enforce the vast majority of the requested price increases; although many would suggest that they might not be sustainable in the longer term given the expected delivery of a significant number of large new ships from the shipyards.
Furthermore, some analysts expect pricing to ease as weakening load factors impact the sustainability of current rate levels. In addition, there is some significant disparity when looking at overall global route trends; for instance, the divergence in freight rate trends between the ascendant Asia-to-Europe trade and moribund transpacific routes.
Tighter capacity on the former has enabled lines to press ahead with aggressive rate restoration programmes, while weaker load factors on the transpacific have held such attempts in check. This might well mean that the rally in Asia-to-Europe rate increases may be losing steam. In fact, carriers are already offering pricing reductions on cargo bookings for later in the month, indicating that the market may now have peaked.
Cumulatively, the container lines lost over $6 billion in 2011; $2 billion in the last quarter alone. And, despite the many recent rate increases, many of the lines are expecting to lose money again this year. In fact, Maersk Line, the world’s largest shipping line, has just announced that it lost almost $600 million in Q1 2012; more than it lost in the whole of last year. And that was on revenue up 7% to $6.3 billion!
This is all very sobering and, although we wouldn’t for a minute doubt the long term viability of Maersk itself – who has stated that it expects an overall “negative up to neutral result in 2012” – the omens are potentially more ominous for some of the smaller players.
All of this means that the importers and exporters of scaffolding products are increasingly under pressure to ensure that their logistics chains are working at optimum safe and efficient levels. It’s imperative that in order to avoid ‘contagion’, the scaffolding industry does its upmost to ensure that its logistics chains are being well managed and that it utilises a high quality freight forwarding partner; one that can advise them knowledgably and help them successfully and profitably navigate through the instability of the global shipping industry.
Rob Geddes, 23, will be based at NSG UK’s Deeside headquarters, learning the ropes under the mentorship of Managing Director Mike Carr.
Rob, from Rainhill, was previously self-employed with his own e-commerce business.
He said: “This is a great career move for me and I am looking forward to learning everything about the business, from a bottom to top approach. I have joined a very ambitious firm and it is my aim to gain as much experience and get as high up the ranks as possible.
“There is so much to learn but I have been working closely with Mike, general manager Tim Walker and compliance manager Howard Satchell, who have been in great in answering my questions and offering lots of support. To start with I will be doing a lot of ad-hoc project work, administration and also going out to get on-site experience of NSG’s services.”
Rob added: “I left the University of Liverpool in 2009 with a Geography degree and set up my own business in car detailing. It was through this that I met Mike Carr, NSG UK’s managing director, and I am thankful that he saw management potential in me and invited me to join the business as a trainee.”
Mike Carr said: “Rob has shown an enormous amount of dedication to learning about NSG UK and has really thrown himself into all aspects of our business. He is a well rounded young man who we want to nurture into a future leader of the company. As well as spending time at our Deeside office Rob will go out on site to learn about the practical side of what we do.”
NSG UK is a leading provider of scaffolding, painting, blasting, thermal insulation and building repairs, with over 40 years of experience. It has continued to thrive throughout the recession, winning new business and retaining key clients.
Mr Carr added: “NSG UK is fully committed to investing in young people both as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility and our plan to develop a new generation of skilled scaffolders, supervisors and managers. We currently have two apprentices working at our Runcorn site and have been engaged in an innovative training and apprenticeship scheme with the Shrewsbury House Youth Club in Everton since 2010.”
For more information on NSG UK visit 
The North West based consultancy firm, which launched in 2005, will provide bespoke scaffolding and work at height training and supervision at a new oil field site in Southern Iraq.
Simian Risk will be working closely alongside local workers to train and assist them in erecting scaffolding for building works at the site, which currently employs thousands of Iraqis.
Simian Risk Director Ian Fyall, who will be leading the project, said: “The aim of our training initiative is to create a culture of self sufficiency in the region. This is a massive project, with a whole infrastructure being built around the oil field. Therefore it is essential that those who work on the site fully understand the need for robust health and safety procedures, and adhere to those rules.
“The oil companies we are working with are placing a real emphasis on local employment; we will be out there initially for six months to bring the workers up to a high standard of health and safety. The country has seen so much turmoil and this is a great opportunity for the Iraqi people to take ownership of rebuilding their infrastructure – with homes, industry and offices. It is a privilege for Simian Risk to be able to play a small part in that, and create a safe and healthy working culture for the people of the region.”
Ian added that Simian Risk, which opened an office and training centre in Dubai last year, is looking to capitalise on the continued development of the Middle East oil and gas sector.
“The region’s petrochemical sector offers some great opportunities and this is a very niche market that we have been able to expand into. It is still within scaffolding and working at height, just with a more industry orientated focus rather than construction. The construction sector is slowly picking up in the Middle East after the global recession, and we are working hard to get our name recognised for when the bigger developments start again, as we suspect they will.”
Simian Risk was also the only UK firm to be invited to exhibit at the recent Middle East IOSH Conference, held at the prestigious Muscat Bank HQ in Oman. Simian Risk was one of four exhibitors at the conference, which was attended by 150 health and safety professionals and government representatives from across the Middle East.
Director Simon Hughes said: “We have been proactive members of IOSH Middle East for over a year and to be invited to exhibit at the Muscat Bank was a real coup for Simian Risk. The event was a great opportunity to get our business known in the region and develop strong relationships with other well known companies and local governments. We were invited to present at the conference last year and participated in a seminar on the need to develop strong working at height standards in the Middle East with the Abu Dhabi Municipality.”
“The region is still some way behind the very high standards we have in place in the UK, but we can see many companies in the Middle East are working hard to improve health and safety. We are determined to play a part in this drive by providing first rate work at height training programmes to help reduce the number of industrial accidents in the region.”
Directors Ian Fyall and Simon Hughes launched Simian Risk Group in Warrington in 2005. With more than 40 years of experience within the scaffolding industry, the business specialises in providing health and safety consultancy for work at height.
In 2010 Ian and Simon split the company into two divisions – Simian Risk and Simian Skill, taking on two new directors, Dave Randles and David Abraham for the respective divisions. Dave Randles became a shareholder in 2011. Dave and David also have more than 40 years of experience to add to that of Ian and Simon.
For more information on Simian Risk services visit 
Stephen Cartwright fell approximately three metres from the scaffolding, which had no safety rail, at a detached property on Carrwood, in Hale Burns, on 31 May 2011.
The 44-year-old, from Blacon near Chester, landed on a flat garage roof and sustained serious injuries to his right leg, including a dislocated knee and broken bones.
The Health & Safety Executive investigated the incident and immediately served six enforcement notices on his employer New Generation (Manchester) Ltd, stopping some work activities at the site and requiring improvements to be made.
Trafford Magistrates Court was told on Friday the scaffolding was in a poor condition and there were unprotected gaps in the floors and walls, all of which could have led to someone being injured in a fall.
New Generation (Manchester) was prosecuted for three breaches of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 by HSE for failing to properly plan and manage the work, for failing to provide a safe place to work, and for failing to ensure the site was in a good state.
The company, of Sackville Street in Manchester pleaded guilty all three offences. It was fined £3,900 and ordered to pay £4,000 in prosecution costs on Friday 11 May.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Ian Betley, said: “The state of the Carrwood site was an absolute disgrace when we visited it, and we immediately issued six enforcement notices to ensure the safety of the people working there.
“New Generation failed to plan the work properly or to manage it effectively. As a result, Stephen Cartwright suffered major injury and other lives were put in danger.
“Health and safety laws exist for a reason, and if this company had taken notice of them then Mr Cartwright’s fall could have been avoided.”
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