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The biggest idiot on a ladder Every year the Ladder Association runs a photo competition to find a photo of the biggest idiot on a ladder, and here is the 2015 winner. The Idiots on Ladders competition is used to help promote its annual Ladder Exchange campaign, where old ladders can be traded in for new ones at participating outlets. The aim is to get ladders that are damaged or have broken run ... more
A man in the UK yesterday using every millimetre of working height that his step ladder offered, or rather did not offer. The man is working on a street light at an industrial park, and one assumes that the Ecolectrica van is his, although it may not be. The step ladder is half on the pavement and half in the bushes, he is standing on what the manufacturer designed as a hand hold/rest and not a ... more
Thirteen Wolff cranes are at work building the kilometre-high Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia. Roots Group – working on behalf of SBG – is using the cranes in the construction of what will be the tallest building in the world. The Jeddah Tower, also known as the Kingdom Tower, will stand 1,001-metres high when complete. London’s Shard, by comparison, stands a mere 309.6 metre ... more
While driving, this driver must not have expected an accident that would transform his car into a convertible-like state. This footage captures the dramatic moment in the city of Ningbo in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, as the car’s roof was ripped off as it collided with iron rails that were hanging out from a lorry. Thankfully the driver was uninjured in the accident. Total disr ... more
The latest offering in Facelift’s retro poster range warns of the danger of entrapment – becoming crushed against an overhead object or wall. This is a risk particularly associated with the use of Mobile Elevated Platforms (MEWPs) but can easily be prevented with a thourough risk assesment and the right training - the PAL+ Course is for those that regularly work where there ... more
UK construction industry leaders are throwing their weight behind attempts to reduce the everyday health risks faced daily by construction workers. Occupational disease still kills far more construction workers than site accidents - something the inaugural Construction Health Summit, which will be held in London on the 21st January 2016, hopes to tackle. While much has been done over the years ... more
A review of rules and regulations has been launched in a bid to reduce the barriers that get in the way of house-builders developing more homes. The Cutting Red Tape review, launched last month, is seeking the views of firms of all sizes about how easing bureaucratic burdens could help kick-start productivity. Following on from the Housing Implementation Task Force, it will examine the experien ... more
The Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) fraud investigator, Ian Sidney, has called upon the sector to do more to combat card fraud. Speaking in the wake of a December episode of the BBC’s Fake Britain, which focused on fake cards in the construction industry, he said that tackling the supply of fake cards was at the ‘forefront’ of improving health and safety in t ... more
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) have joined forces to launch a new £1 million scheme to train non-construction staff working in the sector. The new fund, which will run throughout 2016, is aimed at ensuring offsite staff- such as sales and marketing or business development employees - are, like their construction counterparts, getting t ... more
IPAF’s mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) operator training programme takes a giant leap forward with a new generation of learning tools available from 1 February 2016 in the UK. After two years of research, testing and significant investment, the new learning materials are set to deliver flexibility and interactivity, with the same emphasis on practical training. For the first time, t ... more
