Colwyn Bay Pier: Asbestos ‘Could Contaminate Beach’
Concerns are increasing that asbestos from the derelict Grade II-listed Colwyn Bay pier could contaminate the beach. Asbestos sheeting was used in the construction of the main pavilion in the 1930s.
A report by Conwy council said the sheeting could break up if the pier was hit by bad weather and wants to dismantle it as soon as possible. But it needs Welsh Government approval before work can start.
The pier, which has been closed since 2008, started to collapse in February. A storm caused further damage and sections of it had to be demolished as an emergency measure.
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Permission For Take-Off
Unmanned aerial vehicles can substitute for humans in some high-hazard activities but the authorities exert tight controls to ensure their safe use.
News footage that followed the Grenfell Tower fire in west London in June featured London Fire Brigade remotely operating a small rotor-borne aircraft to survey the building’s damage and to search the upper floors for survivors.
These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used by emergency services to inspect structures that are too risky for rescue teams to enter. Commonly known as drones (though, strictly speaking, a drone guides itself), they can be equipped with high-definition cameras to capture live pictures and thermal imaging technology to detect body heat.
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Jail For Boss Who ‘Couldn’t Care Less’ About Health And Safety
The owner of a skip hire and waste disposal firm based near Swansea has been jailed for a year and his firm fined £35,000 for health and safety breaches.
Sentencing, Robert Collis was slammed by Judge Geraint Walters at Swansea Crown Court for his ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude towards his employees, the public and the environment.
Collis’ business, Crofty Point Metals in Penclawdd, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive following a fire in 2013 which took five engines and 25 firefighters to put out.
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Lone Working: Supporting Policies With Technology
In the first of a series of monthly blogs on lone working, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust looks at how technology can assist policies.
Everyone has the right to work in a healthy and safe environment and that right applies to all members of a workforce, at all times.
This becomes more complex when your staff work in multiple places, have no fixed place of work, or often work alone. However, the fact is, regardless of whether your employee is at the normal office, away from company property or working without supervision, you have a responsibility to mitigate any dangers to them while they are working.
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Mates In Mind: Construction Mental Health Scheme Enters Next Stage
The full role-out of the construction industry health and mental wellbeing scheme, titled Mates in Mind, has begun.
The move means the scheme, which had been piloted by several firms, such as Tideway, Balfour Beatty, and Heathrow, will now be available to the whole sector.
It aims to create a flexible and ‘joined-up’ approach to mental health, tailored to the needs of individual construction firms. It aims to assist such firms with tackling poor mental health while nurturing positive mental wellbeing in the workforce.
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Arrowsmith Lands New $1m Contract After Sc21 ‘Silver’ Success
One of Coventry’s leading aerospace precision component manufacturers is flying high after securing a $1m order from the United States.
Arrowsmith Engineering, which employs 60 people at its recently extended facility in Bayton Road, is manufacturing a production part for airplane engines that fly millions of miles every year.
Backed by support from the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), the company now expects to double annual sales to £7m by 2020 after impressing customers with world class quality and ‘right first time’ performance.
It has also just been awarded the Silver SC21 award, making it one of a select group of firms across the UK to achieve this supply chain standard.
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Iceland Foods Fined £2.5m Following Fatal Accident
Iceland Foods Limited has been fined £2.5 million at a sentencing hearing at Grimsby Crown Court, following a fatal accident at the company’s store in Rotherham.
The incident, on 28 October 2013, happened when a contractor visited the store to replace filters within an air conditioning unit located on a plant platform above a suspending ceiling, which was located in the store’s warehouse.
The contractor fell three metres from the platform and through the suspended ceiling, sustaining fatal injuries.
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Fire Doors: The Post-Grenfell Rush To Improve Fire Safety
With Fire Door Safety Week kicking off next week, SHP sister title, IFSEC Global caught up with the campaign’s spokesperson to find out how the Grenfell tragedy has affected the campaign.
Fire doors are technically complex products and people overlook them for that fact; they’re simply not on people’s radar. So our job is to get out there and keep the message simple.
What they need to know is simple. Your fire doors need to be properly tested and made, maintained, and of course, not left open
Support for the campaign is wide, in all areas of fire safety. Although our message is fire doors, we develop resources and guidance for many different sectors, whether it’s the responsible person, the construction industry, fire risk assessors, or tenants and users.
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Common Mistakes When Preparing For Winter
An unpredictable climate means that businesses aren’t necessarily preparing for winter maintenance in the way they should be – often tackling it in an ad hoc manner. Richard Burroughs, GRITIT, explains the importance of planning and making early preparations for developing new winter maintenance plans and processes.
The UK climate is becoming increasingly unpredictable, and the mild winters of the last two years can make it is easy for businesses to become complacent with winter maintenance plans. We forget the extreme weather we experienced in the winter of 2012/13 where schools, businesses were forced to close and airports and public transport ground to a halt.
To Continue Reading on the SHPonline Website, Click HERE