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The forklift truck driver who escaped from the wreckage of the collapsed racking (Forklift driver survives eight-hour ordeal by cheese, theguardian.com, 6 May) probably owes his life to the safety cage of his truck, not to some divine intervention. Great news that he survived, and it makes a good story, but the real question is, what were the conditions that led to the collapse? Pallet rackin ... more
A Suffolk cargo handling company has been fined £100,000 after an employee suffered serious injury when a sheet of marble weighing one tonne fell on him. Ipswich Crown Court heard how an employee of Extreme Handling Limited was working at GMA Warehousing and Transport Limited’s Felixstowe site. He was assisting a fork lift truck operator to move a one tonne sheet of marble from ... more
A Scaffold company in Bridgend has been fined for safety failings following a routine inspection. Llanelli Magistrates’ Court heard how OW Scaffolding was working at Heol y Parc, Cefneithin when they had a routine inspection which highlighted several safety failings. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 30 September 2015 found that ... more
The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has urged organisers and exhibitors not to attach banners to scissor lifts. It warned that banners could create a 'sail board' effect, which could destabilise the lift and cause it to turn over. IPAF said scissor lifts were a safe way to perform temporary work at height when used properly by trained personnel. However, it warned that they were n ... more
Choosing access equipment just got that little bit easier with the launch of Facelift’s new access guide. The 92 - page brochure features all you need to know about the models that Facelift has for hire, and details of the wide variety of training courses available, such as IPAF, PASMA and Ladder Training Courses. In order to ensure customers are getting exactly the right pieces of ... more
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has successfully secured a conviction against a woman accused of construction card fraud. Karen Sharpe, a 51-year-old company director from Staffordshire, was arrested after it was discovered that she had bought 13 fake CSCS cards in a local pub and had used them to secure a cleaning contract on a construction site in Stafford. The fakes w ... more
Next year’s Conexpo construction machinery trade show is set to feature ‘the world’s first fully-functional 3D printed construction excavator’. The machine is also thought to represent the first large-scale use of steel in 3D printing. Exhibition organisers want to use excavator to bring to life how technology is transforming the construction industry in line with the show ... more
A cherry picker left in a canal had people in Dudley scratching their heads last month. The machinery was discovered in the Dudley No2 Canal, near Highbridge in Netherton at the weekend. It's not known how it got into the water but a video has been discovered of individuals riding it along the tow path in mid-April. A spokesman for the Canal and River Trust said specialist equipment would b ... more
New research from the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has shown that there are now 1,170,000 mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), also known as aerial work platforms (AWPs) in the worldwide rental fleet. This is up 4% from the previous year. The European MEWP rental market grew by 3% in 2015 and is estimated at approximately €2.7 billion, according to the IPAF Euro ... more
The Prefabricated Access Suppliers’ and Manufacturers’ Association (PASMA) has launched a new advanced training course: Towers with Cantilevers. Developed after extensive consultation with PASMA members and the tower-using industries ‘Towers with Cantilevers’ is the latest in a series of advanced courses that reflects the fast growing use of towers in more complex an ... more
