29 April 2016 | Jamie Harris Facilities managers have been named among the We Are The City Rising Stars 2016 shortlist. We Are The City is an organisation supporting professional women in the UK. It aims to encourage women to progress in their careers through networking, events, further
National Grid has chosen Costain as programme manager for its £100m project to replace its gas pipeline across the Humber estuary. Above: The Humber Estuary National Grid intends to lay the replacement pipeline in a tunnel under the river to provide a more robust long-term engineering solution. Currently, the pipeline
Construction workers who were systematically blacklisted by major contractors, often just for airing safety concerns, have begun to receive compensation. The Ucatt union, which represents many of the 3,213 people on the industry blacklist found in the office of the Consulting Association seven years ago, says that 71 of its
Developers of London’s proposed ‘garden bridge’ are hoping that construction will start in the summer after signing a contract with France’s Bouygues Travaux Publics and Italy’s Cimolai. Above: The garden bridge will have 270 trees and more than 100,000 plants, according to current plans Bouygues and Cimolai have been working
It has been announced that of all of the different lifting options that are available within a Care Home structure, using a ceiling hoist is the most appropriate across all cases. According to Good Practice Guidelines, ceiling hoists are the most effective lifting methods. According to research, there should be
29 April 2016 | Jamie Harris Facilities managers have been named among the We Are The City Rising Stars 2016 shortlist. We Are The City is an organisation supporting professional women in the UK. It aims to encourage women to progress in their careers through networking, events, further education and training. The awards are designed to celebrate 100 individual female contributors that represent the leaders and role models of the future. In addition to facilities management, women in the property services industry, including BIFM Awards 2015 Rising Talent in Facilities Management winner Tanya Horscroft, have also been nominated. The awards cover all aspects of business, such as HR and recruitment, insurance, media, law, public sector, sport and not for profit organisations. The shortlist is now open to public voting, which closes on 27 May. The finalists from each category will be announced on 6 June, with a winners event on 30 June. Online voting and the full shortlist, with profiles of each nominee can be found here. Facilities Management shortlist: Cheryl-Anne Sanderson, G4S Elaine Gibson, NSPCC Kirsty Johnston, Mitie Lianne Lawson, Interserve Construction Marianne Kwong, BNP Paribas Mary O’Connor, CBRE Pleun van Deurssen, Incentive QAS Sajna Rahman, Sodexo Sophie Austin, Sodexo Sophie Kimber, ISS Property Services shortlist: Alex Chitty, Land Securities Alice Boswell, British Land Cleo Folkes, St Martins Corporate Erin McDonald, CBRE Gemma Dew, Land Securities Jessica Neale, CBRE Najwa Jawahar, WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff Natalie Essa, Land Securities Rebecca Fieldhouse, Iceni Projects Tanya Horscroft, Capita Source link
National Grid has chosen Costain as programme manager for its £100m project to replace its gas pipeline across the Humber estuary. Above: The Humber Estuary National Grid intends to lay the replacement pipeline in a tunnel under the river to provide a more robust long-term engineering solution. Currently, the pipeline runs in a covered trench along the river bed and is susceptible to tides and erosion, requiring regular maintenance. Planning consent for the replacement pipeline, from the Planning Inspectorate, is expected in September 2016. The River Humber pipeline is 5.4km long and runs between Paull, on the north bank of the Humber, and Goxhill, on the south bank. The current pipeline was built in 1984 and runs in a trench on the riverbed between above-ground installations. Over time, tidal patterns have eroded the riverbed covering the pipeline, leading to parts of it becoming exposed. To protect it, exposed areas were filled with gravel-filled bags and concrete ‘mattresses’ placed over the top, with plastic fronds to mimic seaweed and encourage the settlement of sand and silt. This solution ensured the pipeline could continue to operate normally in the short term. But the long-term solution had to be replacing the pipeline. The replacement pipeline will be constructed in a tunnel to be dug beneath the River Humber. This will minimise the impacts on the river and surrounding habitats, and ensure the continued operation of the UK gas transmission network. The project has been designed by Capita. Costain will be providing a full range of project services to National Grid. The works will span across multiple disciplines including health, safety, project management, project controls and planning, commercial management, engineering, risk management and other specialist tunnelling disciplines. Costain power sector director Nigel Curry said: “The award of this contract demonstrates Costain’s ability to meet its customers’ needs through our broadened consultancy and advisory project service offering.” Length of pipeline: 5.4km / 3.3 miles Diameter of pipeline: 48 inches (1,220mm) Length of pipeline tunnelled: 5km / 3.1 miles Depth of tunnel: 35 metres Width of tunnel: 3-4 metres Length of construction: 35 months (approx.) Length of time spent tunnelling: 12 months (approx.) Gas pressure: 70 barg Cost: Upwards of £100m This article was published on 13 Apr 2016 (last updated on 13 Apr 2016). Source link
Construction workers who were systematically blacklisted by major contractors, often just for airing safety concerns, have begun to receive compensation. The Ucatt union, which represents many of the 3,213 people on the industry blacklist found in the office of the Consulting Association seven years ago, says that 71 of its members have now received a full and final settlement for compensation. The 71 received £5.6m between them, making the average settlement close to £80,000. Some were as high as £200,000. The compensation is for breach of confidence/misuse of private information, breach of the Data Protection Act 1988, defamation and loss of earnings. Ucatt acting general secretary Brian Rye said: “Ucatt has been fighting the blacklisting case since the day it was revealed. This initial tranche of compensation is the first significant milestone in the battle to win justice for blacklisted workers. I hope that this compensation will provide some recompense for these members who have suffered appalling treatment at the hands of the blacklisters.” Ucatt is still negotiating a further 89 cases. Unless settlement is agreed, these cases will go to trial in May 2016. Initially, unions were urging their members not to accept a settlement but to sue instead. Lawyers for the blacklist victims are still attempting to secure a guarantee that if any further documents are discovered relating to the blacklisting of workers or their personal information, the individual is given access to them and they are then destroyed by the blacklisting companies, in order to prevent future blacklisting. The legal teams involved in the case are trying to secure agreement that the companies concerned will provide training and future support to any of the victims who require it, to help them re-join the industry. Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Vinci issued a joint apology in October 2013 for setting up and using The Consulting Association to operate an industry blacklist. They set up the Consulting Association after the collapse of a discredited predecessor body, the Economic League. The eight contractors set up The Construction Workers Compensation Scheme in a bid to make a clean start, although not without criticism along the way. [e.g. See previous report here.] This article was published on 9 Feb 2016 (last updated on 10 Feb 2016). Source link
Developers of London’s proposed ‘garden bridge’ are hoping that construction will start in the summer after signing a contract with France’s Bouygues Travaux Publics and Italy’s Cimolai. Above: The garden bridge will have 270 trees and more than 100,000 plants, according to current plans Bouygues and Cimolai have been working with the Garden Bridge Trust since April 2015 when they won the contract for preconstruction services. The joint venture has now been confirmed as responsible for completing the detailed design, construction and planting the trees and shrubbery that are expected to define the privately-owned crossing of the Thames in the capital. The contract value was not disclosed. The bridge cost has been estimated at £175m by the client body but the funding is not yet in place. The bridge trust said that 80% of Lambeth’s pre-commencement planning conditions have now been approved. Others relating to the start of particular construction works have yet to be agreed, although the trust says it has approval for two out of seven of these. Lease negotiations are also continuing about the land required for the South Landing. Bouygues TP and Cimolai are supported by consulting engineer Flint & Neil and Moxon Architects. Arup, Heatherwick Studio and Dan Pearson Studios will continue to provide advice to the Trust about the Bridge design and construction. The project, brainchild of TV’s Joanna Lumnley, is taking £40m from taxpayers (a £30m grant from the Department for Transport and a £10m grant from Transport for London) and has a £20m loan from TfL. The rest is expected to come from donations, but it remains nearly £30m short. This article was published on 16 Mar 2016 (last updated on 16 Mar 2016). Source link
It has been announced that of all of the different lifting options that are available within a Care Home structure, using a ceiling hoist is the most appropriate across all cases. According to Good Practice Guidelines, ceiling hoists are the most effective lifting methods. According to research, there should be ceiling hoists installed in at least 5% of bedrooms, and the rooms that have ceiling hoists fitted should also have en-suite facilities. This setup has been recommended for new build multi-occupancy property like nursing and residential care homes. Clos-o-Mat is a company that is looking at simplifying the process of lifting patients or residents. The care equipment supplier has been working for the past 55 years to provide advice and equipment to customers. Clos-o-Mat offer a number of pieces of toilet care equipment in order to make caring for elderly or disabled people safer and easier. The business is known for being the leading suppliers of toileting technology that is aimed at the elderly and disabled around the UK. Clos-o-Mat has created a complete fixed track hoist service which has been developed with the advice from designers. The company offers the supply and installation of the equipment as well as commissioning and maintenance in order to make sure that the fixed lifting equipment functions at its best and is kept as a safe piece for equipment to lift and relocate people. The Clos-o-Mat lifting equipment is a simply designed and allows the care worker the capability to lift someone from a bed in order to transfer them into the shower or toilet and back. The equipment can also allow a worker to lift and move a person from room to room with the fixed ceiling tracks. This will make the lifting and maneuvering process easier on the person being moved, and give them back some dignity. This new system also works to reduce strain on the care worker’s back and arms as well as makes sure that the correct sling and hoist are always used.
