Alcohol and drugs misuse is becoming something of a thorny issue for the UK construction sector. For reasons that aren’t fully understood, the industry has been identified as ‘higher risk’ in terms of drug use, and more than a third of construction workers say they have witnessed a colleague under
The government’s ban on combustible materials has been welcomed by Bureau Veritas as the “first step in the crusade to improve the industry’s approach to fire safety following the Grenfell tragedy”. Combustible materials will not be permitted on the external walls of new buildings over 18 metres containing flats, according
Wyndham’s, the Gielgud and the Prince of Wales… three evocative names, synonymous with the glamour and prestige of London’s theatreland, have all recently been restored to their former glories by Thomann-Hanry®. Using their patented façade gommage® technique, the company wound the clock back over a century at each of these
The first phase of plans to transform the Kings Hall heritage site to a Health and Wellbeing Campus has been granted Planning Approval by Belfast City Council. Based in south Belfast, the Kings Hall Health and Wellbeing Park will become the most innovative Health and Wellbeing hub in the UK. TODD Architects and Consarc Design Group are working
Two women managing directors who have carved out successful niches in Scotland’s male-dominated construction sector have been elected joint winners at the latest hub South West Building for Growth Programme awards event held last week in Glasgow’s 29 Club. In a break with tradition, a panel of eminent construction sector
Prefect Controls have introduced a new feature for their PrefectIrus product – the integration of an accurate current meter that monitors energy use in each room throughout multi-occupancy buildings such as student accommodation. Until now, managers have calculated energy use based on power rating multiplied by length of time a
Alcohol and drugs misuse is becoming something of a thorny issue for the UK construction sector. For reasons that aren’t fully understood, the industry has been identified as ‘higher risk’ in terms of drug use, and more than a third of construction workers say they have witnessed a colleague under the influence of drugs or alcohol. According to a survey carried out by risk assessors protecting.co.uk on employees from a range of sectors, nearly a third admitted to using drugs at work. A significant number claimed to be ‘under the influence’ every working day. In fact, many of those admitting to taking drugs were using cannabis or other illegal narcotics. Despite the availability and increasing use of screening tests, around 65% of workers say they have never been tested, while a quarter said they had been tired at work because of the effects of drugs or alcohol. Construction is the most dangerous industry to work within in the UK. There were 38 fatalities in the past year, according to provisional figures issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Falls from a height were the most common cause of death, followed by being struck by moving vehicles or objects. In terms of non-fatal injuries, there are 58,000 incidents each year, and there are 82,000 work-related ill-health cases. Of these ill-health cases, 62% were caused by musculoskeletal disorders and 25% were caused by stress, depression and anxiety. This is significant as these conditions have been linked with the use of drugs and alcohol. While there is no data available to establish if any of these incidents were related to drugs or alcohol, it seems likely that they may have played a part in a proportion of cases. Screening and the law So what is the law for workplace testing in construction? Testing is legislated for in certain sectors, such as the aviation, rail and shipping industries. But while most larger companies now have a policy in place to deal with drug and alcohol misuse in the workplace, the construction industry is not legally required to enforce testing. However, employers do have a duty of care to maintain a safe working environment under the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act. If methods for detecting misuse are not implemented and an accident occurs, employers could face hefty fines or even be prosecuted. In the high-risk construction industry, it’s therefore vital that a robust policy is introduced. Evidential tests For high associated risk industries, it’s recommended that drugs and alcohol testing is carried out on a regular basis. For alcohol testing, a range of professional police-grade breathalysers are available for screening workers, such as AlcoDigital’s AlcoSaber (£295 + VAT), that will provide quick, accurate and instantaneous results. Alcohol interlocks are also available, which prevent equipment or machinery from starting until a negative breath test has been given. For many years, urine tests have been used as a reliable and cost-effective form of drug testing, providing instant results. This is useful for random testing and can serve as a deterrent to employees. However, urine tests often fail to reveal if an individual has consumed drugs in the last two hours. Blood testing is the most accurate method of establishing what drugs are in a person’s system – but the medical training and laboratory analysis required mean it’s impractical for regular testing policy. Hair testing can provide historical data of what drugs a person has used – but not from the most recent few weeks. For this reason, oral fluid collection has been established as the most practical method for drug-testing. With a far simpler collection process and a window of detection that mimics that of blood testing, this is the method of choice for UK Police roadside testing. Action is needed Over the last decade, huge progress has been made in terms of tackling illegal drug use and alcohol abuse in the workplace. Now it’s time for the construction industry to address the issues head-on and direct their attention towards putting in place policies and practices to make drug and alcohol screening compulsory across the industry.
The government’s ban on combustible materials has been welcomed by Bureau Veritas as the “first step in the crusade to improve the industry’s approach to fire safety following the Grenfell tragedy”. Combustible materials will not be permitted on the external walls of new buildings over 18 metres containing flats, according to the new ban. Same applies for new hospitals, residential care premises, dormitories in boarding schools and student accommodation over 18 metres. “The government moved quickly in passing the amended regulations and perhaps exceeded expectations by including not only new but also change of use buildings. The quick turnaround may also have caught some off guard, with not much time to ensure that new buildings of this type do not include timber cladding or combustible insulation,” said Andy Lowe, Technical Director of building control at Bureau Veritas. The government will also give support to local authorities to carry out emergency work to remove and replace unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding. “There are much wider discussions and ramifications for the construction industry still to come, with the government also making clear that it expects immediate action to speed up emergency remediation works to replace unsafe cladding on existing high rise buildings. Here, the onus is very much on building owners and developers, with an emphasis on costs not being passed on to leaseholders. There is also some debate around how the amended regulations can be interpreted when it comes to balconies and timber decking. It will be interesting to monitor progress on this and how the industry responds over the coming months,” Andy Lowe added. The amendments will come into effect from 21 December 2018 and any existing Building Regulation applications will only be exempt if site work has commenced within a two month period from that date.
Wyndham’s, the Gielgud and the Prince of Wales… three evocative names, synonymous with the glamour and prestige of London’s theatreland, have all recently been restored to their former glories by Thomann-Hanry®. Using their patented façade gommage® technique, the company wound the clock back over a century at each of these iconic buildings, revealing their glorious frontages as they first appeared. Today, all three theatres are owned and run by Delfont Mackintosh Theatres. Impressed by the spectacular results achieved by Thomann-Hanry® at other landmarks such as The Bank of England, The Ritz – and more than 30 Listed Buildings in St James’s borough alone – Delfont Mackintosh appointed Thomann-Hanry® to stage similar revivals at their theatrical landmarks. Echoing the magic of miraculous scene changes between acts, each façade clean was completed with no scaffolding, minimal disruption and, at around a week in each case, in next to no time. Carried out from a boom-mounted cabin, this unique process projects fine particles under compressed air across the building’s surface, gently erasing decades of accumulated grime. Underscoring the system’s impeccable environmental credentials, powder / dirt cleaning residues are then efficiently filtered, collected and recycled. Occupying a landmark corner location in Coventry Street, Leicester Square, the Prince of Wales is actually the oldest of the three theatres, with origins dating back to 1884. However, the current Grade II Listed structure was built in the 1930s, designed by renowned cinema and theatre architect Robert Cromie in classic art deco style. The recent façade clean, stone restoration and decoration project carried out by Thomann-Hanry® is the first major restoration work since a £7.5 million refurbishment in 2003. In just six days, some 1,003 square metres of reconditioned stone, render and Portland Stone across two elevations were gently revived and revealed in their original splendour. Designed by prolific theatre architect WGR Sprague, Wyndham’s first opened on 16th November 1899. Situated on Charing Cross Road, this magnificent Grade II* Listed building was built in Modern Renaissance style, with an imposing free classical Portland Stone frontage. Inside, the auditorium was constructed on four levels and decorated in Louis XVI style. Other than a restoration of its stunning ceiling in the 1970s, much of the auditorium has been carefully preserved as it was first built, making it an outstanding exemplar of Victorian architecture and design. Cleaning three elevations in just 8 days, Thomann-Hanry® have ensured that the elevations of this fine building do justice to its spectacular historical interior. Located on Shaftesbury Avenue and with 986 seats on three levels, the Gielgud is another WGR Sprague masterpiece. Having opened as the Hicks Theatre in 1906, it was renamed the Globe Theatre in 1909, changing again to its current name in 1994 in honour of Sir John Gielgud, a legendary English actor whose extraordinary career spanned eight decades. First refurbished in 1987, the theatre last underwent an extensive renovation in 2007, when the exterior was clad in scaffolding for months. In stark contrast, the recent cleaning works by Thomann-Hanry® were completed – scaffold-free – in just 8 days, with two elevations and some 1,086 square metres of Portland Stone restored to their pristine original state with minimal disruption to theatre goers and passers-by in the heart of London’s bustling theatreland.
The first phase of plans to transform the Kings Hall heritage site to a Health and Wellbeing Campus has been granted Planning Approval by Belfast City Council. Based in south Belfast, the Kings Hall Health and Wellbeing Park will become the most innovative Health and Wellbeing hub in the UK. TODD Architects and Consarc Design Group are working with healthcare specialist developers Benmore Octopus Healthcare Developments Ltd on the design of an innovative health park masterplan located at the iconic Kings Hall, South Belfast. The King’s Hall Health and Wellbeing Park is a joint venture between developer Benmore Group and healthcare and property investor Octopus Healthcare. The campus will be the first of its kind, setting a new standard for health care provision in Northern Ireland. It will provide GP services in new accommodation for population south of the city. The vision is to create an integrated healthcare model which will be part of a wider lifestyle, leisure and well-being park. The masterplan scheme of site area 68,424 sqm will offer a range of integrated and onsite health, community and leisure facilities. These include a primary care complex alongside ancillary medical facilities with the ability to accommodate care for over 25,000 patients. The suburban city redevelopment will also include elderly residential care facilities ; consisting of independent living apartments and bespoke homes for the over-55s as well as a hotel and resident’s gym facilities and a multi-storey car park. Architecturally, the former Kings Hall landmark venue will be sensitively refurbished, with the primary design ambition to preserve the heritage of this iconic and unique 1930’s art deco building. The existing Kings Hall will sit at the heart of the scheme, along with the addition of new, neighbouring medical and accommodation-based facilities masterplanned which to create a village feel. The architectural team have developed this landmark regeneration masterplan, working closely with the developers and collaborating with Belfast City Council, extensively engaging with various healthcare stakeholders and the local community. David Burrows of Benmore Octopus said the proposed £100m project will be the “most innovative healthcare and wellbeing hub in the UK”. “It will create next generation GP care services for the growing population of south Belfast as well as delivering a range of on-site diagnostic facilities alongside housing options for the over 55-plus. We believe the King’s Hall Health and Wellbeing Park will be a beacon of excellence and a standard bearer for integrated healthcare provision in the city and Northern Ireland going forward.” Planning Approval was granted by Belfast City Council at the December Planning Meeting and it is proposed that works will commencing on site in 2019
Two women managing directors who have carved out successful niches in Scotland’s male-dominated construction sector have been elected joint winners at the latest hub South West Building for Growth Programme awards event held last week in Glasgow’s 29 Club. In a break with tradition, a panel of eminent construction sector judges concluded that of the eight participating companies on the Building for Growth programme, two businesses, one run by Claire Donnelly, MD of Hillington-based Aspire Industrial Services, and another by Caroline Barrett, MD of CVD Fire Protection from its base in Carluke, Lanarkshire, best demonstrated their vision, strategic planning and leadership. Aspire Industrial Services, which was established only last year is a one-stop shop for the supply hire, testing and servicing for asbestos, construction and demolition activities, with an open trade counter where customers can buy their Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE), and branded work and corporate wear. Claire said: “We are a young business, but we have already been fortunate enough to win a number of major contracts on construction sites throughout the UK by introducing innovative products which seek to make construction sites safer. “The Building for Growth programme has been a brilliant opportunity to consider carefully how we can make our business bigger and better and capable of regularly winning work from Tier One construction sector contractors.” CVD Fire Protection, which was established in 1997 is a 50-employee strong, £3m turnover business which provides fire protection, diamond concrete drilling and cutting services to the construction industry. Caroline said: “I really enjoyed the hub’s Building for Growth programme. It was full of ideas on how to make your business better and focused our brains to think about “working on” our businesses rather than simply “working in” them. Above all, I think, it has taught me the importance of having a strategic approach, and I am delighted to have won this award.” A public-private partnership funded by Scotland’s business development agencies and a clutch of Tier One contractors including Morisons, Ashleigh, Graham, Morgan Sindall and Keir, hub South West’s development programme is aimed at ambitious companies in construction and related sectors based in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway. Now in its ninth cycle, its Building for Growth programme is targeted at ambitious local SMEs looking to grow in a sustainable manner by building upon the skills and internal capacity to take on increasing volumes of work. Over 90 delegates from 72 companies across the region have now graduated from the course. Session workshops focus on topics such as smart tendering, team building, strategic growth and exit options, marketing planning, supplier development programmes, corporate social responsibility and pitching for business. Gordon Hunter, Supply Chain Development Manager at hub South West, said: “Our Building for Growth programme, has already delivered success to the leaders of its participating companies by both broadening and deepening their grasp of the factors needed to win more new, bigger contracts from the Tier One contractors. “We hope and trust that Claire and Caroline and the other participants in our ninth Building for Growth programme will follow in their footsteps.”
Prefect Controls have introduced a new feature for their PrefectIrus product – the integration of an accurate current meter that monitors energy use in each room throughout multi-occupancy buildings such as student accommodation. Until now, managers have calculated energy use based on power rating multiplied by length of time a device is estimated to be active. However, fluctuating voltage and imprecise predictions of ‘on-times’ can make these estimates wildly inaccurate. The new PU3 from Prefect comes with iACM (Integrated Accurate Current Metering) as standard, logging the current only when a heater is operational. This data is then transmitted via the buildings wiring system to the central controller where it is recalled for estimation of seasonal energy usage. As well as monitoring heaters in bedrooms, the feature also notifies managers if there is a problem with hot water tanks. Usually a problem is only evident when both elements fail and water isn’t being heated. With accurate metering, if one element fails, the drop in current immediately identifies the problem – meaning efficiency can be restored. Glen Golding, Prefect Controls MD, said “This development means accurate usage can be calculated so that better purchasing of energy will lead to greater savings for organisations providing multi-occupancy accommodation.” PrefectIrus is currently in more than 20,000 bedrooms and continuous development makes it an invaluable product to ensure efficient use of energy across Britain’s university accommodation estate. For further information contact Glen Golding on 01787 320 604.
