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Despite the risks being well-known, there’s clearly more work to do on getting the health and safety message out there. A crackdown on building site health risks by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has resulted in enforcement action being taken at one-in-six of the sites visited. During a concentrated two-week period of proactive inspections, the HSE demanded improvements and in s ... more
Time is running out for drivers who haven’t completed their CPC courses yet. 10 September 2014 is the final date for HGV drivers to complete the mandatory 35 hours training in order to meet the approved Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) training. Whether they’ve been in the industry for twenty years or two weeks, all professional drivers of vehicles of more th ... more
Always looking for ways to get on the up – we’ve recently invested in 24 new 8m Skyjack scissor lifts in order to meet customer demand. Discussing the acquisition, our new MD Paul Standing said: “The economic recovery is breathing new life into our sector and we’re finding demand is close to pre-recession levels. We want to ensure we have the best kit available, and ... more
The HSE has issued a prohibition notice to workers carrying out restoration work at Dawn French’s mansion after a worker was seen dangling from scaffolding, 60 feet above rocks. The HSE served the notice after a passer-by alerted them to the unsafe working practices taking place at the site. Builders could be seen climbing over scaffolding poles at Point Neptune House in Fowey, Cornw ... more
Latest figures from Glenigan, a construction industry specialist, forecast a 7.4% rise in construction activity over 2014. Its 2014 Mid-Year Construction Review and Forecast also predicts a growth in construction targets – with figures revised upwards from 4% earlier this year. In addition, output during the first four months of 2014 climbed 6.2% from a year earlier to £38.7 billion ... more
IPAF has announced that there are now over half a million valid PAL Cards worldwide, marking the success of IPAF’s voluntary, industry-led operator training program in keeping the use of powered access equipment safe. “This is a tremendous success for IPAF members,” said IPAF CEO Tim Whiteman. “Our members created and launched the platform operato ... more
New Managing Director brings extensive operational experience to lead the next phase of growth Facelift has promoted its Operations Director Paul Standing to Managing Director, and he has made it his stated aim to make the business the UK’s no.1 supplier of powered access equipment. After starting his career at Facelift in 1999, Paul has worked his way up through the business, and in ... more
The HSE’s ‘myth busters’ panel of experts has just ruled on its 300th case. Set up to expose incorrect, overzealous and downright ridiculous interpretations of health and safety regulations, the panel encourages members of the public to tell them when they think ‘health and safety’ has been cited incorrectly. It draws on the knowledge of a range of panel members, fro ... more
A house builder and a scaffolding company have been fined after two bricklayers were hurt falling from an unsafe scaffold. Lincoln Magistrates’ Court heard the two men, who have asked not to be named, were working for Persimmon Homes Ltd on a development site in Bunkers Hill, Lincoln, when the incident happened in April 2012. They were about to start work on a scaffold platform six metres f ... more
An Essex salad grower has been prosecuted for safety failings after a worker suffered extensive injuries when she had to jump from a runaway mobile working platform at its nurseries in Nazeing. Zofia Jurek, 63, jumped from the moving platform at a height of about 1.4 metres as it accelerated down a ramp and towards a greenhouse door during the incident in July 2013. As she landed on the concre ... more
