26 May 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner reports that the CDM regulations will be re-drafted for reissue in 2014. Details will be presented to the HSE board in December 2012. However, the Executive indicated that the new Regulations are likely to be based more closely on the requirements of the EU Temporary or Mobile Construction Sites Directive. The Löfstedt report recommended that an ongoing review of CDM 2007 should consider a clearer expression of duties, a reduction in bureaucracy and suitable...
[Read on about CDM Regulations re-write for 2014]
25 May 2012
East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Sheffield City Council, who are part of the Yorbuild framework have picked 55 consultants from more than 1,000 who applied for a place on the YORconsult framework. East Riding are customers of Ai Solutions and are long term users of our asbestos management software. Steve Taylor (East Riding of Yorkshire Council) is one of Ai Solutions' Excellent Practitioners; he was put forward for this award because of his work in implementing a system for East Riding to manage...
[Read on about YORconsult Framework]
25 May 2012
We read that nearly one in five construction sites failed safety checks during a national initiative to improve construction site safety. This is a slight improvement on previous years which is good news, but is this trend down to less construction work being carried out? The investigation was carried out by HSE staff and concentrated on high-risk activity including working at height and ensuring sites were in 'good order', being clean and tidy with clear access routes. If you would like Ai...
[Read on about 1 In 5 Construction Sites Fail Safety Checks]
24 May 2012
The Health & Safety Executive is lending its support to the various events, street parties and commemorations that are taking place up and down the country by emphasising that there is nothing in health and safety law to prevent anyone from celebrating. Further details, as well as information for celebrations organisers is available on the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/hse-jubilee
[Read on about HSE Pledge for Queen's Jubilee]
24 May 2012
The Welsh Government has published the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan for Growth and Jobs to ensure that its future capital investment is used to deliver the maximum benefits to Wales. A number of capital projects are planned worth over £15bn which will see the Welsh economy move forward. This is excellent news for the local community as well as the Welsh construction industry. If you are interested in any of the projects more information can be found on wales.gov.uk/funding/wiip2012
[Read on about Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP)]
23 May 2012
There is advice from the HSE's web site about 'leading health and safety at work'. The team at Ai Solutions believe that the art of good Health & Safety is having a 'top down' approach, meaning senior management must buy-in to the process, setting standards, being seen to follow those standards and working towards improvement. The HSE web site offers guidance for all directors, governors, trustees, officers and their equivalents in the private, public and third sectors. This applies to organisations...
[Read on about Leading Health & Safety at Work]
23 May 2012
The HSE has teamed up with the construction industry's Working Well Together campaign to organise an event focusing on safety issues for construction workers, especially during the ground-works phase. This free event has been organised to get to grips with health and safety in one of Britain's most dangerous industries, especially within the smaller and medium sized construction companies. For more information see HSE Press
[Read on about Safety Event for Scottish Construction Firms]
23 May 2012
"Health and Safety" is often incorrectly used as a convenient excuse to stop what are essentially sensible activities going ahead. HSE has set up an independent panel – the Myth Busters Challenge Panel - to scrutinize such decisions. This Panel will look into complaints regarding the advice given by non-regulators such as insurance companies, health and safety consultants and employers and quickly assess if a sensible and proportionate decision has been made. The state: "We want to make clear...
[Read on about Myth Busters Challenge Panel]
22 May 2012
The HSE has a web site to aid you in selecting the correct type of access equipment to use for working at height. They have developed a simple table of 6 questions that provides guidance and details on some of the most common types of access equipment. To find out more, see the HSE's WAIT Tool
[Read on about Working From Height Advice]
22 May 2012
A reminder about Legionella & Legionnaires disease has been published on the HSE web site. The site provides information on Legionella and how to control risks from exposure to Legionella and how to control risks from exposure to Legionella from manmade water systems. If you would like to know more visit www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires
[Read on about Legionella & Legionnaires]
22 May 2012
The Construction Index report that compliance with the new Asbestos Regulations (CAR 2012) is not going to be high. Like its predecessor, the new regulations apply to work involving removal, repair or disturbance of asbestos, and has implications for anyone involved in the maintenance or repair of buildings. Failure to comply with the regulations constitutes a criminal offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, attracting a penalty of up to two years' imprisonment and an unlimited...
[Read on about Asbestos Regulations - Lack of Awareness?]
22 May 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner reports that the accident regarding a fork lift driver that was crushed underneath unstable storage stack could have been avoided if the coils has been securely stored. For more on this story see Forklift driver crushed underneath unstable storage stack
[Read on about Fork Lift Driver Crushed]
22 May 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner reports that there has been a sharp drop in the number of prosecutions of employees under section 7 of the HSWA in the last five or six years, according to figures collated by the HSE from its prosecutions database. Interestingly, the fall in s7 prosecutions has coincided with a rise in the number of senior managers and directors prosecuted under s37 of the HSWA. Does this mean that more senior managers are being held to account for Health & Safety issues?...
[Read on about Shift in Prosecution to 'Those at the Top']
21 May 2012
Birse Civils has been confirmed as winner of a £26m contract to build all the roads and technical infrastructure at Center Parcs new holiday development at Woburn. Ai Solutions are very interested in this particular Center Parc as it is local to us.
[Read on about Center Parcs Civils Deal]
21 May 2012
Around one in five workers over 55 regularly works from home, according to a TUC analysis of official figures published on Friday to mark National Work From Home Day, organised by Work Wise UK. The TUC analysis shows that the number of home workers has grown steadily during the past decade. For some time now technology has improved to the point that working from home is like 'working in the office'. Those of you who use the Ai Solutions Hosted Solution will already know that you can manage...
[Read on about TUC - Older 'Home' Workers]
21 May 2012
A Costain Skanska joint venture has won the latest £40m Crossrail contracts to build ventilation and access shafts in east London. Work will start on the C360 contracts at Eleanor Street and Mile End Park during the later half of this year. The ventilation shafts along the Crossrail route have been designed to ensure optimal air movement within the tunnels. For more on this story go to Costain and Skanska win latest Crossrail contracts
[Read on about Latest Crossrail Contract Awarded]
18 May 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner (SHP) has written an interesting article regarding the CDM2007 regulations. At a panel discussion at the Safety & Health Expo they agreed that Communication, cooperation and competency are fundamental to the successful application of the Construction, Design and Management (CDM) Regulations. This is our mantra at Ai Solutions and we have been advocating the benefits of the CDM regulations as far back as 1994. Our ToolKit CS™ CDM management system...
[Read on about What Lies Beneath the CDM Regulations]
18 May 2012
A woman has been airlifted to hospital after she was hit by a metal site hoarding which fell from a new academy site in Kidderminster yesterday. The main contractor at the site is Thomas Vale who are converting the historic Piano Building into a new academy for Kidderminster College and Birmingham Metropolitan College. For more on this story see Woman hit by falling site hoarding from academy job.
[Read on about Pedestrian Hit By Falling Hoarding]
17 May 2012
Our Australian counterparts are showing us Brits how it should be done in regard to Asbestos. They have set up an informative and emotive new online resource - the Australian Asbestos Network. Launched in March 2012 and funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Murdoch-led initiative features medical information, information about asbestos in homes and the environment, as well as a powerful library of recorded stories from those affected by the carcinogen. We could learn a...
[Read on about Website Educates Asbestos Risks Past & Present]
17 May 2012
There's an interesting article in Industry Today about an "asbestos timeline". Silverdell PLC have published an historic timeline on the subject of asbestos, in a visual and easily shareable format. They have adapted the timeline and accompanying article to reflect the recent supreme court landmark ruling and the changes to the CAR 2012 regulations. For more on this article view Asbestos Uses and Regulations Timeline
[Read on about Asbestos Timeline - Updated to include (CAR) 2012]
17 May 2012
Some not so good now as Balfour Beatty confirm the loss of 650 jobs. The losses will be made up of redundancies as part of a restructuring and efficiency drive at its UK Construction Services business. The cuts will come from white collar staff among the 12,000-strong workforce rather than project delivery and site workers.
[Read on about Balfour Announce Job Losses]
17 May 2012
The Bournemouth Echo reports that a local builder has been fined after carrying out demolition work on a house. He negated the requirement to carry out an asbestos survey before commencing work. Self-employed Stuart Pearson was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for not having a pre-demolition survey to check all asbestos had been removed from the building. This type of work is very dangerous, along with this the removal of the asbestos must be carried out by professional removers.
[Read on about Verwood Builder Fined - Asbestos Risk]
16 May 2012
BBC news reports that Asbestos waste, that was excavated during an operation to recover the body of a horse which had fallen into the shaft near Redruth in February, is going to be removed. Residents were very concerned about the hazard to their health but the Environment Agency said it was a "relatively small amount" which would be removed, although no date was given. For more on this story visit www.bbc.co.uk/news/Cornwall
[Read on about Asbestos Waste 'will be removed' Environment Agency Pledges]
16 May 2012
Image by christgr, sxc.hu And now for some positive news; we read that the Green Construction Board (GCB) has secured an extra £1 million in finance from the government in order to provide added support to its operations. This funding will aid them in promoting 'green construction'. Green construction is a growing industry and one which requires support so that those trained in traditional construction techniques can change their ways of working to fit new targets and guidelines. Ai...
[Read on about Green Construction Gets £1m Boost]
16 May 2012
In Northern Ireland the construction sector remains under extreme pressure despite a marginal improvement in its downward trend, according to the latest RICS Construction Market Survey. It seems that we are still getting mixed messages regarding construction work in the UK. In London there are plenty of large projects happening, mostly due to the Olympics as well as the length of time that a lot of larger projects tend to take to complete. It is not the same story in the rest of the country as many...
[Read on about Construction Still 'Under Pressure']
16 May 2012
The HSE will be running a free half-day seminar hosted by the TUC, focusing on the health and safety lessons learned from the London 2012 construction project in relation to leadership and worker involvement. The event will be held at the Congress Centre, London, 24 May 2012. If you are interested in attending visit www.hse.gov.uk/events for more information.
[Read on about Free Olympics Health & Safety Event]
16 May 2012
It seems the tides have turned as workers take off less sick time. According to the published figures from the office of national statistics (ONS) there is less sickness absence than ever in the workplace. However, this has lead to 'presenteeisum' as staff are worried for their jobs. The downside of this has caused other problems as actual sickness is going on for longer as well as the issues regarding 'spreading germs' throughout the workforce. For more on this interesting story visit www.tuc.
[Read on about Absenteeiusm Vs Presenteeism]
15 May 2012
A local contractor in Northamptonshire has been fined after a six-tonne dumper truck ran over a worker's foot. Lincoln Magistrates' Court heard that Maypine Construction was main contractor on the job where Ross Smith (23) and a colleague were filling the roadway with stone, in preparation for surfacing. The HSE said: "Many construction transport incidents are usually the result of inadequate separation of pedestrians and vehicles, and by inadequate control of vehicle movements on site." For more...
[Read on about Local Contractor - Dumper Truck Fine]
15 May 2012
As leaders in software to manage CDM and Asbestos the team here at Ai Solutions are often asked questions in regard to CDM. One of the most prevalent is "What are my duties under CDM2007?" The HSE has summarised these CDM related duties in a excellent table on their web site - HSE Summary of CDM duties If you would like further help of guidance please visit our web site on www.aisolutions.co.uk or call a member of the team on 01525 850080.
[Read on about Summary of Duties under CDM]
15 May 2012
We read in the Construction Enquirer that 'BAM Construct' has been confirmed as builder of five new school and academy jobs worth £50m. This is a huge multi-site project that will create work locally. The areas in question are Buckinghamshire, Bristol and Plymouth. Some of the work is going to start this Summer which is good news as this will be a good kick start for the industry. The whole works are scheduled to be completed by December 2014.
[Read on about BAM Wins Multiple Schools Deal Worth £50m]
14 May 2012
The HSE are proposing to remove fourteen legislative measures (reference CD239) as they believe that some are either redundant, have been overtaken by more up to date Regulations or do not deliver their expected benefits. The consultative document has been divided into annexes, with Annex 2 covering Construction (Head Protection) Regulations and Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes Regulations. To view this information and to have your say visit www.hse.gov.uk/consult
[Read on about Public Consultation - Removal of 14 legislative Measures]
14 May 2012
Welsh Councils will be allowed to borrow £60m to fund road repairs this year. The money is being provided by the Welsh Government under a 22-year "mortgage-style" agreement to help offset cuts in public spending. Over the next three years it is predicted the funding scheme will bring in about £170m for highways maintenance. Will this be a new way of funding the badly needed repairs on our highways? Perhaps it is, the recent bad weather and cuts in spending have made this a difficult...
[Read on about Welsh Highways Repairs - £60m Borrowed]
11 May 2012
Business leaders in Birmingham and the West Midlands today urged the government to stand firm on plans for a high speed rail link between Birmingham and London. But they were unperturbed that the HS2 project, which will reportedly create 22,000 sustainable jobs in the West Midlands alone, was not included in the Queen's Speech. Michael Ward, president of Birmingham Chamber, said: "We did not expect HS2 legislation to be announced today with the hybrid Bill due next year. This is vital to keeping...
[Read on about Birmingham Chamber: Dont Forget HS2!]
11 May 2012
Barratt, the UK's largest homebuilder, saw its best spring selling season in five years as government moves to boost the market helped to raise prices and sales. Aided by government schemes that have helped to raise the prices of new houses, homebuilders have seen their sales rise. This is good news then within the industry? At the moment we are glad to hear this with the current financial climate spreading its doom and gloom. However, with the recent changes in the asbestos regulations and...
[Read on about Boost In Sales Versus Changes In Legislation]
11 May 2012
The HSE's annual enforcement initiative could cost the construction industry more than £1.5m. The HSE intends to introduce a system for recovering the cost of enforcement activity from those who contravene regulations from October 2012. The scheme, known as Fees for Intervention (FFI), is aimed at ensuring those who contravene the law pay for the cost of HSE enforcement activity. For more on this, see the consultation document (PDF). In the HSE's proposal for extending cost...
[Read on about HSE Campaign Could Cost Industry £1.5m+]
10 May 2012
Main contractor Bowmer & Kirkland and structural engineer Bingham Davis have been found guilty of breaking safety laws following a crane collapse in Liverpool which left the driver paralysed. Bowmer & Kirkland and Bingham had both denied the charges following the collapse in July 2009 when the tower crane toppled onto an apartment block at Chandlers Wharf in Liverpool city centre. The companies were fined £280k and £1k respectively for the accident where crane driver Iain Gillham,...
[Read on about Huge Fine for Crane Collapse]
10 May 2012
INDG223 has now been published. This is a revised leaflet for the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. It combines two leaflets: A short guide to managing asbestos in premises and Manage buildings? You must manage asbestos. The leaflet is for people who own, manage or have responsibilities for buildings, which may contain asbestos. This includes all non-domestic buildings, whatever the type of business, and the common areas of domestic buildings, eg halls, stairwells, lift shafts, roof spaces.
[Read on about New HSE Publication: Managing asbestos in buildings]
9 May 2012
For those of you in the know, the government is looking to scrap with waste management regulations. The Red Tape Challenge recommended scrapping the regulations but we believe this would be a very bad move for several reasons: Construction companies could revert to their old habits which are far from environmentally friendly More waste will end up going to landfill The audit trail of waste from construction sites would be lost, which could lead to more fly-tipping When SWMPs are implemented...
[Read on about e-Petition for Waste Management Regulations]
8 May 2012
Northern borough councils, Halton and Warrington, are teaming-up in a joint procurement race for a £70m highways maintenance contract. The councils are hoping to appoint a single contractor for both areas with work evenly split over the six year deal between the two authorities. If Ai Solutions can aid you in your tender applications, especially in the CDM and Asbestos areas, then please call a member of the team on 01525 850080. The works will include reactive maintenance, signage,...
[Read on about £70m Highways Contract Up For Grabs]
7 May 2012
We read that Chelsea football club have submitted a formal offer to purchase the site of Battersea power station which, if accepted, could lead to the club leaving Stamford Bridge and the development of "one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world" at a cost of more than £1bn. It would be a definite boost to the construction industry in the Battersea area if they are successful in their bid, and nice to have some good news for a change! For more on this story visit Guardian.
[Read on about Chelsea FC Bids for Battersea]
6 May 2012
The HSE has republished their advice on 'electricity appliance testing'. Firms are urged to pull the plug on £30m of wasted electrical safety tests. It is a myth that every portable electrical appliance needs to be tested once a year. A vast amount of money is wasted doing these unnecessary tests each year; we are all looking for savings at the moment! See www.hse.gov.uk/press for further details.
[Read on about Electricity Testing Myth]
6 May 2012
The Unions are saying that bad stats and policies add up to deadly workplaces. The government safety strategy 'built on myth and dogma' is making the UK's workplaces more deadly, unions have warned. Unite have accused the government of hiding behind poor statistics, with workplace deaths 'underestimated by more than 800 per cent' in the official toll. Unite's general secretary Len McCluskey, speaking ahead of Workers' Memorial Day on 28 April, said: 'The government is hell bent on reducing health...
[Read on about Workers at Greater Risk Due to Government Strategy]
5 May 2012
Employment Minister Chris Grayling has stated that there is a straightforward choice between cutting unnecessary health and safety regulations or losing jobs to other countries. At the Enterprise Forum in London last week, the minister spoke about the Government's progress in reforming the UK's health and safety regime during a round-table discussion about the Löfstedt report. Ai Solutions had the pleasure of Professor Ragnar Löfstedt at our recent Health & Safety Conference. Ragnar...
[Read on about Redundant Health & Safety Rules Thwart Growth - Minister Warns]
5 May 2012
A building contractor has been fined over serious safety breaches after a worker was killed by a piece of falling cob wall being demolished by his son. Two agency workers Jamie Ford 24 and his father, Stephen Ford, 50, were working under the control of Do It All to demolish a barn at Dunbury Farmhouse in Winterbourne Houghton near Blandford in November 2008. The court heard no plan of work for the demolition was in place and Alaister Copland had no experience in demolition work of this kind. The...
[Read on about Dorset contractor sentenced over worker death]
4 May 2012
The BBC has put together some educational programmes for the young about Health & Safety using well known childrens characters. The CBBC Madcap Alpacas - Nuzzle and Scratch - team up with safety supervisor Miss Mulberry to learn about common hazards and how to avoid them. The team at Ai Solutions fully supports any education in Health & Safety. These short programmes are quite amusing for the young but send out some very important messages. For those that are interested visit the Nuzzle...
[Read on about Health & Safety Education For Little Ones]
4 May 2012
The National Specialist Contractors Council (NSCC) are fighting the late payment culture we are suffering at the moment. Although a historical thing, more and more businesses are going bust due to their cash flow issues. The NSCC have launched their 'Fair Payment Campaign' to highlight the issues to improve payment practices in the construction industry. With backing at the highest level, the campaign calls for proper and timely payment and the removal of retentions throughout the supply chain...
[Read on about NSCC Fair Payment Campaign]
4 May 2012
The Construction Enquirer reports that workloads are picking-up among specialist contractors as nearly half of firms reported an increase in enquiries during the first quarter of this year. The latest statistics showed that 44% of specialists enjoyed an increase in enquiries in the first quarter of 2012 - up from 32% the previous quarter. The small recovery has sparked cautious optimism among specialists with 47% of respondents anticipating an increase in workload over the next 12 months. So are...
[Read on about Work Picking Up For Specialist Contractors?]
4 May 2012
Those of you in the northern area may be interested to hear that Leeds City Council are looking for a contractor to Carry out works to the A58 Woodhouse Tunnel. The tunnel is suffering from severe concrete damage and deterioration as a result of prolonged extensive chloride ingress from winter de-icing salts. If you need to have a system in place to support you in your CDM related endeavors you may be interested in CDM ToolKit CS™ as the tool to demonstrate your compliance to Leeds...
[Read on about Leeds Inviting Bids for Damaged Tunnel]
4 May 2012
The market, which funds projects in areas such as railways, hospitals, airports and power generation, has apparently contracted amid pressures on bank balance sheets and regulatory changes according to the Financial Times. If this is true it does not bode well for the Construction industry. We have seen a huge downturn in building in the UK and in some areas many smaller companies are going bust. It would be really nice to see an upward trend in construction. Nevertheless, building still continues...
[Read on about Construction Funding Under Pressure]
3 May 2012
Many of our readers will know that we advocate the management of Asbestos and that we believe it is a 'top-down' approach. A recent court case judgment may have far reaching ramifications for UK companies and their subsidiaries. The court has ruled in favor of an asbestos sufferer who sought damages from a "parent company". The case will mean that more liability will be placed on parent companies and may mean some high cost lawsuits. If you would like to have an asbestos management system in place...
[Read on about Historic Asbestos Case]
3 May 2012
Here is a warning to those who dump their asbestos waste illegally. The Safety & Health practitioner reported that the owner of a small roofing firm has been electronically tagged after admitting to fly-tipping asbestos on a road in Kent. For more on this story see Roofer given curfew order for illegally dumping asbestos.
[Read on about Roofer is Tagged for Illegal Dumping of Asbestos]
2 May 2012
Many of our readers know that we advocate sharing of information and collaboration of work, so it is good to see more collaboration going on. The Circle Housing Group is aiming to hand the removal of asbestos to three specialists. Circle own more than 63,000 homes and is running a tender for their asbestos removal programme. If you are interested visit their website www.circle.org.uk. Asbestos is a key area for those organisations who have a large portfolio of buildings. With the Control of Asbestos...
[Read on about £30m Asbestos Removal Collaboration]
2 May 2012
The Construction Enquirer states that Crossrail has announced their shortlist for the design, installation and commissioning of its £25m central section Traction Power system. The contract is expected to awarded in Spring 2013. This massive project will hopefully create many jobs in the area (Westbourne Park, Stepney Green, Custom House and Plumstead). Some good news for contractors in these districts! If you would like to read more on this story go to Balfour, Costain and Murphy in...
[Read on about Crossrail Shortlist]
1 May 2012
The May 2012 edition of the Ai Solutions Newsletter is now available: May Newsletter.
[Read on about Newsletter - May 2012]
1 May 2012
At the Ai Solutions Health & Safety Conference in April it was suggested that Health & Safety awareness should start in schools so that young people have a 'good underpinning' to their knowledge. Health & Safety is always bottom of the list and, in some cases, it is not tabled as part of the standard cirriculum for some of the more 'technical' courses you would expect it to be part of (i.e. Built Enviornment). Many round the table at the conference stated that CDM and Health & Safety...
[Read on about Judith Hackitt's Risk Assessment]