Book Course HSL is to run a 1 day course on Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Risk Management. 7 July 2016 HSL is to run a 1 day course on DSE management (including office risk assessment and risk management of mobile device). Introduction Display screen technology, such as computers, laptops, smartphones and tablet PCs are common in all aspects of our lives.  Our exposure to these devices continues to increase, with reported levels of up to 9 hours per day spent consuming media on a display screen device.   While the musculoskeletal (MSD) risks from such device are relatively low, the increased exposure does mean that the effects of preventable risks such as poor or fixed postures can accumulate and lead to problems.  HSE statistics (2014/15) indicate that 44% of cases of work related illness involves MSDs, which result in 40% of working days lost.  Data from the general practitioners scheme (THOR-GP) suggests that “keyboard work”  are significant contributors to both lower back and upper limb disorders. This course, delivered by experienced HSL ergonomists, will provide you with an understanding of DSE risks and approach to risk management and with the documentation to provide your employer with risk assessments.   The course covers the key elements for office DSE risk assessment and management and provides the information and techniques required to enable anyone to become a DSE assessor.  We also discuss risk management for less common DSE issues such as hot-desking and dual screens, and mobile technology such as tablet pcs, smartphones and laptops.  Guidance on how to set up a computer workstation in the office is mirrored for home activity or when you are on the move with DSE. The course will cover: Why DSE?  Legal, moral, financial reasons How do we get injured What’s the best posture Achieving good posture at the workstation Alternative pointing device Practical assessment Break requirements from DSE Mobile DSE risks and risk management Who should attend? The course will be most beneficial for health and safety providers, with limited knowledge / experience of DSE risk management who wish to become a DSE assessor. However, it will also be relevant to those who wish to update or consolidate their knowledge and experience as a DSE assessor. Venue The course will be run at the HSL laboratory in the spa town of Buxton. Buxton is in the heart of the Peak District and has good links to mainline train stations and Manchester International Airport. Details of hotels in the Buxton area can be found at www.visitbuxton.co.uk Cost The cost of this course is £425 per person (includes course notes, lunch and refreshments). Book Course Please note the invoice option is not available within 4 weeks of the course date, or for overseas customers. For further dates and additional information email: training@hsl.gsi.gov.uk or contact the Training & Conferences Unit at HSL directly on +44 (0)1298 218806. Back to Health & Safety Training Courses Back to the top Source link

Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Wed, Jun 29th 2016 A university building with multiple pioneering elements features glazing systems by Kawneer. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Architectural glazing systems from Kawneer have helped an exemplar building in sustainable, low-energy design become the first education building in the UK to achieve BREEAM “Outstanding”. The £12.65 million Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI) was the final project to be delivered through the 2009-2014 capital projects framework at Swansea University and is a unique centre of research innovation, facilitating ground-breaking work into the safe deployment of new renewable energy solutions. The Kawneer systems were used throughout the 4,500m2 building and comprise AA®541 top-hung casement windows, low/medium-duty swing doors and AA®100 zone-drained capped curtain walling featuring dressed aluminium feature beams. These mimic steel beams by being glazed into the system and insulated to create horizontal emphasis at varying levels. They were installed on the brickwork and rainscreen-clad building with cavity and SFS inner wall construction by Kawneer-approved specialist sub-contractor Dudley’s Aluminium for main contractor Bouygues UK. Ian Standen, associate architect with regular Kawneer specifiers Stride Treglown said: “The Kawneer systems are a key feature of the design as the window and curtain walling details became the focus of the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community who were advising the university.” Part of the 27,000m2 Engineering Quarter on the university’s new Bay Campus, the building accommodates scientific testing and experimental laboratories, high-quality offices, communal areas, meeting rooms, research offices and a showcase lecture theatre. The ESRI site was part of 40 hectares gifted by BP, one of the university’s major industrial partners. Its funding through Central Government’s UK Research Partnership Investment Fund was contingent on achieving a BREEAM Outstanding rating which made it the first education building to do so. One of its key innovations is a layout that inhibits any form of silo culture within the research areas by placing a strong emphasis on the shared space between research groups. Building users and visitors are able to see into the laboratory spaces from the circulation areas and gain a feel for the activities going on inside. The state-of-the-art Harvard-style lecture theatre is a fully-serviced space for public events as well as research-based activities. Beyond the entrance foyer a linear form dictates the layout of the rest of the ground floor, comprising three main chemical laboratories and serviced ancillary space together with the main marine laboratory. This facility is unique in Wales, featuring a technically-challenging 30m-long wave flume tank which allows the university to model estuarine tidal flows and silt deposition. The building has been designed as a highly adaptable research hub, capable of dealing with future changes in research programmes. The first floor accommodates office and research-based functions. The offices for researchers are located on the southern side of the building with two open-plan research hubs a large seminar room occupying the remainder of the floor plan. The second floor accommodates executive offices where the main professorial suite is located. An executive suite is located on the top floor with a balcony accessing extensive views over the campus. The design has looked to improve the building thermal envelope performance through passive design (reducing air permeability, U-values and g-values) primarily and has subsequently included additional options to reduce energy consumption and to use and recover energy efficiently. Ian Standen said: “Material sourcing and recyclability were key issues for the design team. As a result the U-values through the frame and press cap details came under scrutiny to match the design criteria and BREEAM credits for the building’s energy usage and air permeability requirements.” He added: “By working very closely with the technical team at Kawneer and the sub-contractor providing samples and building mock-ups, agreement was secured for the aesthetic and technical changes presented in using the Kawneer systems, and they work well with the glazed fritted panels and insulated units on the project.” ESRI was the last of the Bay Campus projects to start and yet had to be the first to finish, hence the build programme of under two years. It was shortlisted for the BREEAM 2016 and regional RICS awards in 2016. ENDS Photo: Michael Gove Source link

All apprenticeship starting before 1 May 2017 will be funded through existing rules. The new system has 15 funding bands. Each type of apprenticeship will be placed in a specific band, the caps for which range between £1,500 and £27,000 depending on the apprenticeship type. The government will simplify the funding system for apprenticeship frameworks, which will no longer allocate funding based on the age or location of the apprentice. Employers who will not pay the levy, or do not have sufficient funds to cover monthly training costs, will be required to co-invest 10 per cent of the cost, while the government will pay the remaining 90 per cent. How co-investing will work Employer chooses apprenticeship in band 9 with a maximum price of £9,000Employer negotiates a price of £8,500 with their providerGovernment co-invests 90 per cent = £7,650Employer co-invests remaining 10 per cent = £850Employer and provider agree to spread this over 10 instalments of £85 Small employers (those with 50 staff or less) will not be required to contribute towards the cost of training apprentices, with the government covering the cost for care leavers or those in Local Authority Education, Health and Care plan aged 19-24. Employers with apprentices aged 16-18, as well as those detailed below who have been in care, will receive an additional £1,000 and a further £1,000 to cover any additional training costs. Employers should be able to use their funds in a digital account and benefit from government co-investment support to pay for training apprentices whose main place of work is in England. Training providers will receive up to £150 a month from the government to support apprentices with learning difficulties or disabilities. They will also receive £471 from the government for English and maths qualifications gained by apprentices. Employers will need to show that individuals will gain “substantive new skills” in order to secure government co-investment in training. Contractors will be able to transfer up to 10 per cent of their annual funds to subcontractors or other employers from 2018. Apprenticeship pathway  Level  Provisional max funding band value Accessing and Rigging 2 £6,000 Applied Waterproof Membranes 2 £6,000 Building Control 3 £9,000 Built Environment and Design 3 £6,000 Chartered Surveyor 6 £27,000 Civil Engineering for Technicians 3 £9,000 Cladding Occupations 2 £6,000 Construction and Building Services Management and Supervision (Sustainability) 4 £12,000 Construction Contracting Operations 3 £9,000 Construction Operations 2 £4,000 Construction Site Management 6 £12,000 Construction Site Supervision 4 £12,000 Decorative Finishing 3 £9,000 Decorative Finishing and Industrial Painting 2 £6,000 Fitted Interiors 2 £5,000 Floorcovering 2 £5,000 Formwork Occupations 2 £6,000 Foundation Degree in Architecture 5 £12,000 Foundation Degree in Built Environment 5 £12,000 Foundation Degree in Civil Engineering 5 £12,000 Foundation Degree Professional Practice in Construction Operations Management 5 £12,000 Geomatics Data Analysis 3 £9,000 Heritage Skills 3 £6,000 Highways Maintenance 2 £5,000 Insulation and Building Treatments 2 £3,500 Interior Systems 2 £5,000 Maintenance Operations 2 £5,000 Management Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management 6 £12,000 Mastic Asphalting 3 £9,000 Mastic Asphalting 2 £6,000 Occupational Work Supervision 3 £5,000 Plant Maintenance 3 £12,000 Plant Maintenance 2 £9,000 Plant Operations 2 £4,000 Plastering 3 £6,000 Plastering 2 £6,000 Property Maintenance Operative 2 £9,000 Roadbuilding 2 £4,000 Roofing Occupations 3 £12,000 Roofing Occupations 2 £6,000 Science Industry Maintenance Technician 3 £27,000 Specialist Concrete Occupations 2 £5,000 Steelfixing 2 £4,000 Steelfixing Occupations Major Projects 2 £9,000 Stonemasonry 3 £9,000 Stonemasonry 2 £6,000 Surveying 3 £6,000 Surveying Technician 3 £9,000 Sustainability 5 £12,000 Thermal Insulation 3 £6,000 Thermal Insulation 2 £4,000 Town Planning Technical Support 3 £9,000 Transport Planning Technician 3 £12,000 Trowel Occupations 3 £6,000 Trowel Occupations 2 £5,000 Tunnelling Operations 2 £5,000 Wall and Floor Tiling 3 £9,000 Wall and Floor Tiling 2 £5,000 Wood Occupations 3 £9,000 Wood Occupations 2 £6,000 Woodmachining 2 £6,000 Source link

Its State of the Nation report on devolution stated that councils should be grouped as combined authorities, charged with planning regional pipelines of projects and with wider powers to raise money and organise skills training to deliver them. Combined authorities have been set up in the major conurbations, where groups of councils jointly exercise devolved powers including, in most cases, over transport and infrastructure. But their financial powers are limited and progress in the rest of England has been riven by disputes over boundaries. The ICE said: “Realising the growth through infrastructure agenda of devolution will require improved skills provision: there is little point in planning new railways or power stations if there is not a trained workforce to build them.” While most devolution deals have included local control over skills policy for people aged over 19, central government has clung on to age 16-19 provision, seeing this as part of drive to encourage academies and free schools. The report said the effectiveness of tying together skilled labour and infrastructure plans “would be further improved by also transferring powers over skills for 16-19 year olds”. Devolution proposals should be based around devising regional pipelines of confirmed infrastructure projects, giving the industry confidence in its future workload and allowing it, alongside local and central governments, to invest in the training needed, the report said. Some procurement policies had become excessively local in focus “to the extent that a start-up in a neighbouring district is constrained from growing” and regional infrastructure pipelines could help smaller firms to grow, the ICE said. The report also called for an end to restrictions on how combined authorities can raise and borrow money from the private sector to enable them to spend more rapidly on infrastructure projects. Most devolution proposals – whether successful or not – have strongly emphasised economic growth, but the ICE said they should also set out how they would improve environmental sustainability and quality of life, so as to generate more public support for devolution. Outside the conurbations, most devolution bids have foundered on local opposition to the insistence of chancellor George Osborne that an elected mayor must be created to be accountable for the use of devolved powers. A poll for the ICE showed only 33 per cent of people thought devolution should be contingent on an elected mayoralty, with the report stating that leadership arrangements should be flexible and suited to each area. ICE vice-president Adrian Coy said: “It is right that infrastructure investment is the driving force behind Government’s plans to rebalance the economy, and we hope to see ongoing commitment to the devolution agenda during the EU exit negotiations, so momentum is not lost. “Looking forwards, combined authorities must now take the helm and deliver these benefits locally. This will be no mean feat, but with the right frameworks, investment and skills in place they can succeed.”   Source link

Book Course HSL is to run a 1 day course on Machinery Series – PUWER. 11 July 2016 Introduction Machinery is used in many sectors to fabricate, handle and package industrial and consumer products. Everyone who works with machinery, whether directly or indirectly, need to understand the basics of machinery safety but not everyone needs to know all the details relating to the design. This course covers those activities regulated by the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) and provides delegates with a thorough knowledge of this legislation.  The course will also give practical advice on how to evaluate the safety of existing machines and how to measure and evaluate noise and vibration risks. This course can be taken in combination with the machinery risk assessment essentials course that takes place on the following day. Course includes Who should attend? This course is aimed primarily at machinery users, maintenance engineers, safety officers and project engineers who may find themselves responsible for purchasing machinery or needing to make minor modifications to improve the efficiency or change the use of existing machinery. This course would also benefit anyone who needs a thorough understanding of the provision and use of work equipment regulations. Venue The course will be run at the HSL laboratory in the spa town of Buxton. Buxton is in the heart of the Peak District and has good links to mainline train stations and Manchester International Airport. Details of hotels in the Buxton area can be found at www.visitbuxton.co.uk. . Cost The cost of this course is £425 per person (includes course notes, lunch and refreshments). Book Course Please note the invoice option is not available within 4 weeks of the course date, or for overseas customers. For further dates and additional information email: training@hsl.gsi.gov.uk or contact the Training & Conferences Unit at HSL directly on +44 (0)1298 218806. Back to Health & Safety Training Courses Back to the top Source link

A PR Manager for Power-Pipe UK has initiated that the public ought to be made aware of the negotiations that are taking place at this very moment to alter the paperwork present in the Standard Assessment Procedure. Talks and consultations are being held in order to determine how the current measures of mandatory assessments of living spaces across the United Kingdom can be changed so that money can be saved and new avenues for social improvement can be explored. With twenty facets of the SAP being under close scrutiny at this time, Jessica Harman of Power-Pipe UK has already intimated that certain procedures in the ways in which various amounts of hot water are worked out by the SAP need to be altered for the future. It has been suggested that there are ways in which changing the ways in which SAP investigates this could result in saving significant amounts of cost. The spokesperson for Power-Pipe UK emphasizes that these avenues into Waste Water Heat Recovery (alternatively abbreviated to WWHR) need to be explored and have not been as of yet. These are some of the many issues that leading members of Power-Pipe are intent to raise and it is important that they are considered as the voice of an alternative to the current SAP system. Ms Harman is adamant therefore that the ways in which SAP is used to assess the conditions and procedures for building all across the United Kingdom need to be addressed and taken seriously. Without this, a very large amount of inefficiency and unnecessary large costs could be added simply due to the progression of an antiquated SAP system. Ms Harman of Power-Pipe UK stresses that the discussion for these changes and possible implementations and alterations will bring themselves to an end on the 27th January and therefore urges anyone with any ideas to come and put their ideas forward.

©EPA Isabel dos Santos Cobalt International Energy’s plans to offload an African oil discovery at the centre of a US corruption investigation have suffered a blow, after Angola’s state energy group backed away from a $1.8bn deal to buy it. Cobalt, the New York-listed Texan oil explorer, reached a sale agreement with state-owned Sonangol a year ago. But Isabel dos Santos, the billionaire daughter of Angola’s authoritarian president and newly appointed Sonangol boss, has now written to Cobalt to recommend that it sell its interest elsewhere, the US group said on Tuesday. Ms dos Santos’s decision delays what Cobalt had hoped would be the final act of its eventful foray in Africa’s second-biggest oil producing country. In 2012, seven years after it was founded with $500m from Goldman Sachs and US private equity groups, Cobalt’s share price jumped 38 per cent in a day, giving it a market value of $11bn, after it struck oil under Angola’s seabed. Weeks later, the Financial Times reported that three top Angolan officials had held previously concealed stakes in a local company, Nazaki Oil and Gaz, which the government had assigned to be Cobalt’s partner when granting exploration rights. One of those officials, Manuel Vicente, was head of Sonangol at the time that the rights were granted. He is now the country’s vice-president. All three officials deny wrongdoing, as does Cobalt, which maintains it did not know about the officials’ hidden stakes. US authorities had opened a corruption investigation in 2011 following allegations about the hidden stakes made by a local activist, Rafael Marques de Morais. In 2014, Cobalt severed ties with Nazaki and another local partner, which transferred their interests in the project to Sonangol. Last year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which handles potential civil violations of anti-corruption law, dropped its case. A parallel investigation by the Department of Justice, which handles criminal cases, was still ongoing as of May, according to a Cobalt filing. Angola’s vast natural wealth, chiefly oil but also diamonds, was the subject of three decades of on-off civil war, which finally ended in 2002. But it continues to fuel instances of bribery and embezzlement that have left the country five places off the bottom of Transparency International’s rankings of perceived corruption last year. Timothy Cutt, a former head of petroleum at BHP Billiton who took over as Cobalt chief executive in July, blamed the lack of recovery in the crude oil price for Sonangol’s decision to pull back from the purchase of Cobalt’s assets. Mr Cutt, who has held talks with Ms dos Santos in Luanda, said that he would invite other potential buyers to a data room this week. Cobalt, which slipped to a net loss of $252m for the first half of the year compared with a $148m loss for the same period last year, needed a deal by the end of the year, he added. Selling the Angolan assets would determine whether Cobalt needed to seek investors for its Gulf of Mexico interests, Mr Cutt explained. Chevron, BP, Total and other big western groups pump Angolan crude, alongside Sinopec of China and several smaller companies. Mr Cutt said that 18 groups had examined Cobalt’s assets during a previous effort to sell them, though none was prepared to go as far as Sonangol. Cobalt’s shares, which hit $35 when it announced its initial discovery in 2012, were down 25 per cent at $1.02 in early New York trading on Tuesday. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link

A new and improved pay deal has been secured for workers in the Construction Industry Joint Council (CIJC). GMB, Unite and Ucatt unions have all agreed to a two year settlement that will see a 2.5% pay increase from July 25 and a further rise of 2.75% in June next year. Subsistence allowance and sick pay will also increase at least in line with these rises, while travel allowances will now be paid in miles as opposed to kilometres. From January next year, workers will also receive a further day’s holiday, which the unions say is equal to a further 0.4%, along with more flexible arrangements for holiday usage. Further additional pay increases will also be given to the rates for some skilled operative workers, such as banksman, slinger/signaller, telehandler drivers and fork lift truck operators. The unions said that despite the settlement, they had informed the employers that the agreement was ‘not fit for purpose’. Among their concerns were the absence of a mechanism to apply the agreement to company supply chains, lack of recognition of the living wage in London and rates of pay. Brian Rye, acting general secretary at Ucatt, said that the deal makes sure that workers will enjoy increases above the rate of inflation for the next two year period. He added that employers must understand that the CIJC agreement does not meet the workforce’s needs and without radical reform it may soon no longer be relevant to the industry. John Allott, the national officer for construction at Unite, said that employers must understand that the deal does not in itself provide a solution, rather it is the start of a journey to address many of the problems faced by members of the construction industry. Last month, Ucatt’s members voted in favour of a move to merge with Unite, which will mark the end of Ucatt as an independent union.

Several environmental associations have called upon industry members to collaborate in order to make sure that the green agenda remains a priority following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. UK Green Building Council (UK GBC) Chief Executive Officer, Julie Hirigoyen, said that both political and economic uncertainty will result in many people questioning whether the green agenda should now be de-prioritised while business goes into ‘fire fighting mode’, but she insists that this cannot be the case. She commented that there are still strong incentives for businesses to address the urgent sustainability challenges that the industry faces, including climate change. She added that these are now more important than ever in order to ensure the best people are working as productively as possible, generating new commercial enterprises, adding value for clients, reducing costs and minimising future risks. She believes that the key to meeting these objectives is a sustainable built environment. The UK GBC has said that it will further explore the commercial drivers for sustainability, while encouraging an unprecedented collaboration between trade bodies, green groups and progressive businesses. They said that they will propose to the government that a sustainable low carbon built environment is what is required for UK plc, and that this will require a consistent and clear policy landscape regardless of the UK’s involvement in the EU. Compliance director at Carbon 2018, Melanie Kendall-Reid, said that the UK must now decide whether it will cut all ties with Europe or remain part of the European Economic Area (EEA). She believes that a complete withdrawal from the EU and the EEA may result in an ‘erosion of environmental policy’, using Iceland and Norway as examples of countries can continue to follow EU climate policy and directives from the EEA without being part of the EU. Ms Kendall-Reid added that environmental policies in Europe provide UK firms with business opportunities to make them market leaders in developing new technologies.