U.K. Edition
BAM erects huge scaffolding birdcage inside Bluewater
Over 280,000 feet of tube, 12,000 scaffold boards and 90,000 fittings were used to create this huge scaffolding birdcage inside the new Events Venue at the Bluewater shopping center in Kent.
New Harsco guide takes safety to a higher level
A new publication issued by Harsco Infrastructure has been designed to help construction industry professionals re-appraise their safety procedures for operations which involve working at height. Intended for use by client and
contractor staff at all levels, the new Harsco Infrastructure Guide to Working at Height is set to become an invaluable source of relevant information and best-practice guidance.
The new 34-page document is believed to be the most up-to-date, comprehensive and authoritative of its kind and draws on Harsco Infrastructure’s experience as a world-leading supplier of access, formwork, shoring and maintenance services and products to the construction and industrial markets. Its contents have been designed to help the reader understand the many implications of working at height, adopt best practice procedures, select the most appropriate equipment and access and offer guidance on its safe use.
Harsco’s Health and Safety SHEQ Director, Tony Horsfall said:
“Today more than ever, markets are converging rapidly to create an increasingly universal standard of safety, Our aim in creating the new guide has been to help people understand the many issues which surround working at height – a common, everyday situation which can have dramatic consequences unless it’s managed properly.”Included in the new publication is information on the selection of different types of access, collective fall and personal protective equipment, plus references to examples of site equipment and operator-related hazards. This is complemented by principal design standards for different types of access equipment, and explanations of the variations in safety requirements that exist between different European markets. Copies of the new publication are available by emailing [email protected] or visiting there members’ area at www.harsco-i.co.uk/register
Scafftag UK offers a free download
You can now download a free digital harness register from Scafftag UK.
The register also comes with a guidance booklet compiled to provide management with a summary of health and safety legislation, and to enable them to be better informed regarding the management and use of safety harnesses, lanyards, and fall arrestors within the workplace.
Click here For more information and the FREE download Peri to showcase new products in Dubai
Peri will showcase their state of the art products at the MEC 2011 during November 21 – 24 at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre in the Saeed Halls.
Professionals will be treated to a wealth of information at the Peri stall including intensive discussions with Peri team of experts, tours of the exhibited products, latest documentation and live product demonstrations which will highlight the advantages of the Peri products.
On an area of around 72 m² Peri will be presenting proven system equipment, solid product enhancements and numerous new developments. As one of the leading formwork and scaffolding suppliers in the Middle East with offices throughout the entire MENA region, Peri will not only exhibit already wellknown and established products, but also launch a new product targeted at the high demand within oil and petrochemical projects.
Presentation of proven and innovative systems
Among the products showcased at the Peri stand are proven formwork systems as well as the flexible Peri UP Rosett Flex modular scaffolding system.
With interactive live demonstration and product experts from Germany, Peri will demonstrate how easy it is to erect Peri SKYDECK, the light-weight aluminium panel slab formwork for faster assembly. Equipped with a drophead, early striking is possible after only one day (depending on the slab thickness and concrete strength). On-site material requirements can be reduced as the beams and panels are then available for the next concreting cycle.
SKYDECK is made of aluminium; no component weighs more than 15 kg. Thanks to the low weight of the individual components, SKYDECK enables easy and tireless erection and striking. The SKYDECK main beam reduces the number of props needed – only 0.29 props per square metre of slab are required. This saves time and offers more workspace which simplifies the transportation of formwork materials across the site.
Wildcat strikers at Lucite to return to work
Scaffolders who have been demonstrating outside an industrial site were expected to return to work today.
And talks are being sought to resolve the situation regarding the 14 temporary contractors who sparked unofficial industrial action at chemical firm Lucite.
Dozens of workers have been protesting outside the company’s Billingham site over the last week.
It came after 14 temporary scaffolders and labourers were escorted from the premises.
That prompted other workers on the site to join the dispute.
David Massey, Hertel’s HR and Communications Director said: “We are pleased that this unofficial dispute has now ended. We will be having discussions with Unite and GMB about the issues that have been raised over the last couple of days and see dialogue as a positive step forward.”
A source at Hertel, which employs the temporary workers at the Lucite site, said yesterday that Hertel had ended the temporary scaffolding contract due to a reduction in the planned work required at the Cassel Works site. It meant “around 14 scaffolders out of a total workforce of 160 contractors employed by the company” were given a week’s pay in lieu of notice.
But workers claimed their action was prompted because they were laid off following a pay review request.
A spokesman for union Unite said it had been agreed they would return to work today “under the condition that once there was a return to normal working we will be endeavouring to hold a meeting as soon as possible through the offices of Acas.
Advanced scaffolder Tony Seaman, of Ormesby, told the Gazette: “Negotiations can now take place. I am happy that things are moving.”
Via: www.gazettelive.co.uk
And talks are being sought to resolve the situation regarding the 14 temporary contractors who sparked unofficial industrial action at chemical firm Lucite.
Dozens of workers have been protesting outside the company’s Billingham site over the last week.
It came after 14 temporary scaffolders and labourers were escorted from the premises.
That prompted other workers on the site to join the dispute.
David Massey, Hertel’s HR and Communications Director said: “We are pleased that this unofficial dispute has now ended. We will be having discussions with Unite and GMB about the issues that have been raised over the last couple of days and see dialogue as a positive step forward.”
A source at Hertel, which employs the temporary workers at the Lucite site, said yesterday that Hertel had ended the temporary scaffolding contract due to a reduction in the planned work required at the Cassel Works site. It meant “around 14 scaffolders out of a total workforce of 160 contractors employed by the company” were given a week’s pay in lieu of notice.
But workers claimed their action was prompted because they were laid off following a pay review request.
A spokesman for union Unite said it had been agreed they would return to work today “under the condition that once there was a return to normal working we will be endeavouring to hold a meeting as soon as possible through the offices of Acas.
Advanced scaffolder Tony Seaman, of Ormesby, told the Gazette: “Negotiations can now take place. I am happy that things are moving.”
Via: www.gazettelive.co.uk Scaffold collapse in Fulham UK
This is the scene after the scaffold collapsed at around 1pm on Monday in a busy stretch of road in Fulham.
The scaffold fell onto the pavement that hundreds of schoolchildren use everyday. Miraculously, no cars or people were near at the time of the collapse.
A local shop keeper heard the collapse from behind his counter he said:
“It’s amazing no one was passing – this is one of the busiest roads in the area and is used by hundreds of people a day. There is no doubt this could have killed someone.” “It was a huge bang, you could really feel the power of it.”
Another eyewitness saw the incident and said:
“I was standing outside smoking and out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving. It seemed to come down in slow motion, the polls were bending 90 degrees and then it crashed to floor.
“If someone had been underneath they would have died, unless they were a very small child. It’s really lucky no one was walking down there at the time.”
The scaffolding was on a three-storey block of flats that are being built on the footprint of a former council building.
The local shop keeper said that activity at the site had died down recently, but he was concerned about the scaffolding for some time as the structure had been swaying in the wind.
More Photos : Courtesy of fulhamchronicl.co.uk
Written By Daniel Norton
The scaffold fell onto the pavement that hundreds of schoolchildren use everyday. Miraculously, no cars or people were near at the time of the collapse.
A local shop keeper heard the collapse from behind his counter he said:
“It’s amazing no one was passing – this is one of the busiest roads in the area and is used by hundreds of people a day. There is no doubt this could have killed someone.” “It was a huge bang, you could really feel the power of it.”
Another eyewitness saw the incident and said:
“I was standing outside smoking and out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving. It seemed to come down in slow motion, the polls were bending 90 degrees and then it crashed to floor.
“If someone had been underneath they would have died, unless they were a very small child. It’s really lucky no one was walking down there at the time.”
The scaffolding was on a three-storey block of flats that are being built on the footprint of a former council building.
The local shop keeper said that activity at the site had died down recently, but he was concerned about the scaffolding for some time as the structure had been swaying in the wind.
More Photos : Courtesy of fulhamchronicl.co.uk
Written By Daniel Norton
UPDATE: 14 Scaffolders sacked over pay rates
ATTEMPTS are being made today to bring an end to an unofficial strike which has seen dozens of workers protest outside an industrial site see our first report on this here.
It is thought the Unite union was due to meet with representatives of a group demonstrating outside Lucite in Billingham.
Crowds of around 100 workmen have been reported at the company’s entrance in recent days in an action which has delayed planned maintenance work.
The protest comes after 14 scaffolders and labourers were escorted from the chemical company’s site – triggering a disagreement which saw other workers join the dispute.
A source at Hertel, which employs the workers at the Lucite site, said the “unofficial strike action” had been going on for several days and involved the “unlawful secondary picketing” of the premises.
He claimed many of the demonstrators had no direct connection with the work in question, adding the firm had written to its employees to “counter false allegations that the dispute is in any way linked to pay or that the men were forcibly removed from the site.”
The source said Hertel had ended a temporary scaffolding contract last week due to a reduction in the planned scope of scaffolding work required at the Cassel Works site. The decision meant that around 14 scaffolders out of a total of workforce of around 160 contractors employed by the company were given a week’s pay in lieu of notice.
The company says that is in line with the agreed terms of the temporary contracts.
But the workers claim their action comes after they were laid off following a pay review request.
A Hertel spokesman said the situation all of the 14 were employed as temporary scaffolders and labourers.
“The process was managed in accordance with standard procedures with appropriate notice issued to each of the affected employees,” he added.
It is believed that the spokesmen for the parties involved in the dispute were due to meet today.
14 Scaffolders sacked over pay rates
A picket line has been set up outside the old Cassel Works, Billingham, Teesside after 14 scaffolders lost there jobs at the end of last week.
The sackings came after one of the scaffolders Tony Seaman who is an activist for UNITE union took a letter of grievance to management on Wednesday asking to talk about increasing pay.
The scaffolders claimed he was then asked to leave the site along with 13 other scaffolders.
The industrial action was immediately set up outside the site which swelled to over 100, involving other trades such as fitters and electricians that walked out in sympathy for the scaffolders, calling for the men to be reinstated.
Officials from UNITE and GMB unions held talks with the company to get the men back to work. However, no deal could be met.
Scaffolder, Tony Seaman said: “I think it is wrong and we are very angry about this. “All we wanted was a review into our pay. We are on £10.46 an hour and under the blue book agreement we wanted £14. What is wrong with that?”
It’s understood that union officials and the company agreed on Friday to take the matter to the conciliation service ACAS, but a condition was that the picket line should be removed.
However workers refused to call off the action until they were given their jobs back and on Friday the matter was deadlocked.
UNITE official Bill Green said: “The unions have told the men that they are on their own because the walk-out is illegal. The company claimed they never received a grievance letter. This is an unfortunate and regrettable matter that needs to be sorted out.”
Communications Director David Massey at Hertel UK said: “Due to changes in the scope of the work we are carrying out at Lucite, the company was in a position where it needed to end a number of temporary contracts.”
“This has involved 14 men, all of whom were employed as temporary scaffolders and labourers. The process was managed in accordance with standard procedures with appropriate notice issued to each of the affected employees.”
Talks are expected to continue soon.
The sackings came after one of the scaffolders Tony Seaman who is an activist for UNITE union took a letter of grievance to management on Wednesday asking to talk about increasing pay.
The scaffolders claimed he was then asked to leave the site along with 13 other scaffolders.
The industrial action was immediately set up outside the site which swelled to over 100, involving other trades such as fitters and electricians that walked out in sympathy for the scaffolders, calling for the men to be reinstated.
Officials from UNITE and GMB unions held talks with the company to get the men back to work. However, no deal could be met.
Scaffolder, Tony Seaman said: “I think it is wrong and we are very angry about this. “All we wanted was a review into our pay. We are on £10.46 an hour and under the blue book agreement we wanted £14. What is wrong with that?”
It’s understood that union officials and the company agreed on Friday to take the matter to the conciliation service ACAS, but a condition was that the picket line should be removed.
However workers refused to call off the action until they were given their jobs back and on Friday the matter was deadlocked.
UNITE official Bill Green said: “The unions have told the men that they are on their own because the walk-out is illegal. The company claimed they never received a grievance letter. This is an unfortunate and regrettable matter that needs to be sorted out.”
Communications Director David Massey at Hertel UK said: “Due to changes in the scope of the work we are carrying out at Lucite, the company was in a position where it needed to end a number of temporary contracts.”
“This has involved 14 men, all of whom were employed as temporary scaffolders and labourers. The process was managed in accordance with standard procedures with appropriate notice issued to each of the affected employees.”
Talks are expected to continue soon.
Let us know what you think about this story in the comments box bellow
Scaffolder dies 43 years on after asbestos accident
A YORKSHIRE man survived an industrial accident in 1965 only to die 43 years later because he was not protected from asbestos particles in the aftermath, his family has revealed.
Ken Hoggett worked at the giant Ferrybridge power station when three cooling towers collapsed in 100mph winds.
Nobody died in the accident, but tragedy struck generations later as the grandfather succumbed to an industrial disease.
The scaffolder had cleared up in clouds of dust at the site near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, inhaling deadly asbestos fibres which caused mesothelioma, an aggressive form of lung cancer. Barely two weeks after diagnosis, Mr Hoggett – who had suffered breathing problems for years – was dead.
Now his family is speaking out to warn others about the dangers.
A former member of the Green Howards regiment and a veteran of the invasion of Sicily and the D-Day landings, Mr Hoggett was of a generation which bore suffering in silence, according to his family.
His daughter Sue Stoppard, 57, said: “I think if other people have got concerns like my dad had they shouldn’t suffer in silence – they should get themselves checked. That’s why we are speaking out.
“We don’t know how many other people have yet to discover this. If people can read about us and think ‘Well, I should be tested’, there might be something they can do.
“Within less than a fortnight of finding out what he had, my dad was dead.”
He was 85 when he died and had been caring for his wife of 60 years Ann, who had her own health problems. Mrs Hoggett, from Doncaster, started legal action against her husband’s former employers but passed away aged 89.
Sue, and the devoted couple’s other daughter Kay Cowx, 63, continued the action and now the company Joseph Nadin Ltd has paid out damages of £49,000 after admitting a breach of duty of care to its employee.
The family’s solicitor, Rebecca Moore-Yelland, a personal injury specialist from the Doncaster office of Shaw & Co, said finding the firm and proving that it employed men on site around the time of the collapse could be crucial in any further claims by other employees.
“The defendant was hard to track and identify given the lapse of time, but has now been firmly placed as an employer of men working at the power station in this era,” said the solicitor, who has many years’ experience in tracing former employers of people who worked with asbestos decades ago.
“The case also serves to illuminate the hazards of the industry at the time. It’s likely that many men will have some asbestos-induced disease dormant, which will come to light in the coming years, if it has not already.”
In sworn evidence, a co-worker of Mr Hoggett told Shaw & Co that health and safety at the time “received little more than lip service” with accidents caused by poor lighting and training, and inadequate warnings.
Mr Hoggett, who died in 2008, had also helped to mix and apply asbestos lagging with his bare hands before the collapse of the towers.
Mrs Stoppard, of Doncaster, said many workers like her father were told to help in the clear-up.
“Everybody had to muck in and help, and they swept and cleaned everywhere,” she said.
She added: “We were determined to settle it out of dad’s memory – and for my mum because she wanted it to be done as well.
“The day that my dad found out that he had it he said ‘Something should be done about this’. Well, now it has.”
Mr Hoggett worked between 1964 and 1966 for a company called Joseph Nadin Ltd, believed to be based in Lancashire at the time.
It is no longer trading and, according to lawyers, is not believed to be connected to any other company of a similar name.
Via: Yorkshirepost.co.uk / [email protected]
Ken Hoggett worked at the giant Ferrybridge power station when three cooling towers collapsed in 100mph winds.
Nobody died in the accident, but tragedy struck generations later as the grandfather succumbed to an industrial disease.
The scaffolder had cleared up in clouds of dust at the site near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, inhaling deadly asbestos fibres which caused mesothelioma, an aggressive form of lung cancer. Barely two weeks after diagnosis, Mr Hoggett – who had suffered breathing problems for years – was dead.
Now his family is speaking out to warn others about the dangers.
A former member of the Green Howards regiment and a veteran of the invasion of Sicily and the D-Day landings, Mr Hoggett was of a generation which bore suffering in silence, according to his family.
His daughter Sue Stoppard, 57, said: “I think if other people have got concerns like my dad had they shouldn’t suffer in silence – they should get themselves checked. That’s why we are speaking out.
“We don’t know how many other people have yet to discover this. If people can read about us and think ‘Well, I should be tested’, there might be something they can do.
“Within less than a fortnight of finding out what he had, my dad was dead.”
He was 85 when he died and had been caring for his wife of 60 years Ann, who had her own health problems. Mrs Hoggett, from Doncaster, started legal action against her husband’s former employers but passed away aged 89.
Sue, and the devoted couple’s other daughter Kay Cowx, 63, continued the action and now the company Joseph Nadin Ltd has paid out damages of £49,000 after admitting a breach of duty of care to its employee.
The family’s solicitor, Rebecca Moore-Yelland, a personal injury specialist from the Doncaster office of Shaw & Co, said finding the firm and proving that it employed men on site around the time of the collapse could be crucial in any further claims by other employees.
“The defendant was hard to track and identify given the lapse of time, but has now been firmly placed as an employer of men working at the power station in this era,” said the solicitor, who has many years’ experience in tracing former employers of people who worked with asbestos decades ago.
“The case also serves to illuminate the hazards of the industry at the time. It’s likely that many men will have some asbestos-induced disease dormant, which will come to light in the coming years, if it has not already.”
In sworn evidence, a co-worker of Mr Hoggett told Shaw & Co that health and safety at the time “received little more than lip service” with accidents caused by poor lighting and training, and inadequate warnings.
Mr Hoggett, who died in 2008, had also helped to mix and apply asbestos lagging with his bare hands before the collapse of the towers.
Mrs Stoppard, of Doncaster, said many workers like her father were told to help in the clear-up.
“Everybody had to muck in and help, and they swept and cleaned everywhere,” she said.
She added: “We were determined to settle it out of dad’s memory – and for my mum because she wanted it to be done as well.
“The day that my dad found out that he had it he said ‘Something should be done about this’. Well, now it has.”
Mr Hoggett worked between 1964 and 1966 for a company called Joseph Nadin Ltd, believed to be based in Lancashire at the time.
It is no longer trading and, according to lawyers, is not believed to be connected to any other company of a similar name.
Via: Yorkshirepost.co.uk / [email protected]
Have you ever been affected by Asbestos while at work ? Let us know about it in the comment box below.
UTN Training is launching their Renewables Division
UTN is launching their new Renewables Division at there training center in Wakefield West Yorkshire.
To celebrate this new division UTN Training is holding an open day on the 29th September 2011 visitors to the event will be able to view the biggest, at height, all weather training roof in the north of England.
Also at the open day UTN Training will be offering a 20% discount off all courses booked on the day. To qualify for this discount just download and print off this leaflet from here and take it with you to the open day.
That’s 20% discount on Solar and/or Health & Safety Training!
Renewables Division Courses:
- Scaffold Appreciation
- CISRS Scaffold Inspection
- Solar PV for Electricians
- Solar PV for roofers and scaffolders
- Solar PV for builders/other trades
- Working at Heights
- Safe use of PAF Bags
- Ladder Safety & Inspection
- Easy Steps to MCS Accreditation
- PASMA Mobile Tower Scaffold
- 17th Edition Part P
‘The story behind UTN Renewables’
Barnsley businessman, Steve Fisher has just completed a 25 metre long multi tiled roof fitted with the latest solar panels – indoors.
But he is not planning to power his Barnsley home, or his business, with the panels. In fact he will have to shine a mains powered flood light on to the panels in order to make them work.
The seemingly crazy investment is not intended to produce power but to train hundreds of workers to install photovoltaic panels in a realistic situation at a training centre in Wakefield.
Steve started his UTN Training company 15 years ago when he built a 50 metre road to Highway specifications in order to train road workers the way to excavate and re-instate correctly. He has since seen 10,000 road workers successfully complete the New Roads and Street Works course.
With the massive rise in the popularity of solar panels, particularly with the Yorkshire Region, Steve was getting many enquiries about training for installers and decided to build the biggest, at height, all weather training roof in the country at his Wakefield base.
Steve has now formed a collaborative partnership with Barnsley College to deliver Environmental and Sustainable Training and Education throughout the region.
“There are other companies offering similar training but usually at ground level. I decided that if people were going to have to work at height they should be trained at height”, said Steve.
His company already has an approved scaffold training centre and is accredited to run many other health and safety and management courses.
“Solar energy is a booming market and many local authorities are turning to solar power for their housing stock but there is a lack of trained people to do the installation,” said Steve. “In this area alone councils are proposing to spend in excess of £400 million installing solar power.”
”Our five day course is designed to give inexperienced and unemployed building workers the basic skills to fit solar panels on roofs under supervision which would be ideal for many people seeking work at the moment,” he added. In addition there are shorter courses for qualified electricians, plumbers and roofers, who already have many of the skills required for the job.
Recently the Health and Safety Executive announced they would be focusing their attention this year on smaller companies and targeting those installing solar capture equipment to ensure they are complying with health and safety law.
View www.utnrenewables.co.uk for further details of Solar Training, or visit www.utntraining.co.uk for details of all your Health & Safety Training requirements.
Steve started his UTN Training company 15 years ago when he built a 50 metre road to Highway specifications in order to train road workers the way to excavate and re-instate correctly. He has since seen 10,000 road workers successfully complete the New Roads and Street Works course.
With the massive rise in the popularity of solar panels, particularly with the Yorkshire Region, Steve was getting many enquiries about training for installers and decided to build the biggest, at height, all weather training roof in the country at his Wakefield base.
Steve has now formed a collaborative partnership with Barnsley College to deliver Environmental and Sustainable Training and Education throughout the region.
“There are other companies offering similar training but usually at ground level. I decided that if people were going to have to work at height they should be trained at height”, said Steve.
His company already has an approved scaffold training centre and is accredited to run many other health and safety and management courses.
“Solar energy is a booming market and many local authorities are turning to solar power for their housing stock but there is a lack of trained people to do the installation,” said Steve. “In this area alone councils are proposing to spend in excess of £400 million installing solar power.”
”Our five day course is designed to give inexperienced and unemployed building workers the basic skills to fit solar panels on roofs under supervision which would be ideal for many people seeking work at the moment,” he added. In addition there are shorter courses for qualified electricians, plumbers and roofers, who already have many of the skills required for the job.
Recently the Health and Safety Executive announced they would be focusing their attention this year on smaller companies and targeting those installing solar capture equipment to ensure they are complying with health and safety law.
View www.utnrenewables.co.uk for further details of Solar Training, or visit www.utntraining.co.uk for details of all your Health & Safety Training requirements.