The latest report by Water UK has found that there is a significant and growing risk of severe drought impacts arising from population growth and climate change. The group believes that concerted action is now required to build resilience of supply as the first of its kind research modelled the possible effects of climate change, population growth, environmental protection measures and trends in water use to produce a wide range of future scenarios. It deployed new modelling techniques to look 50 years ahead across the whole of England and Wales. The results suggest that, in some situations, we are facing more frequent, and longer lasting acute droughts than previously thought. The South and East of England are the driest areas of the country and face a greater risk of more severe droughts than those previously experienced, while North and West regions of England also face greater exposure to the prospect of future water shortages. The modelling indicated that extensive measures to manage demand are required, along with enhanced supplies of water, to reduce the risk of droughts. Demand management schemes, such as promoting more efficient water use in homes and businesses, or improving building standards and widespread use of metering, must be used along with ambitious supply plans. These include moving more water from one region to another through existing waterways and new pipelines, building new reservoirs, treating more water for re-use and building desalination plants to make use of sea water. The author of the report concludes that, by adopting a step by step approach, the added cost of making the water supply more resilient to severe droughts would be equal to around £4 per year per household. By contrast, the impact on the economy of inaction could be very high, costing an estimated £1.3 billion per day during the most widespread situations of severe drought modelled in the report.

Union for energy workers, GMB, says that Jeremy Corbyn’s energy and environmental policy will not generate the power needed to heat homes, keep the lights on and the economy functioning. The Union was commenting on Corbyn’s energy and environment manifesto which was launched on September 7, outlining his target of generating 65% of energy in the UK from renewable sources by 2030. GMB National Secretary for Energy, Justin Bowden, said that GMB is looking forward to examining the details of how this policy will actually meet the energy needs of the UK. Bowden continued:  “Everyone gets how – over time – renewable energy sources have an important role to play in a sensibly conceived mixed energy policy. “However wishful thinking doesn’t generate the power we need to heat homes, keep the lights on and the economy functioning; this means that until there are technological breakthroughs in carbon capture or solar storage then gas and nuclear power are the only reliable, low-carbon shows in town for all those days when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.” He said that limiting the UK’s options on achieving energy self-sufficiency by banning fracking is short-sighted and naïve as gas is four times cheaper than electricity, the main reason why more than 80% of homes use gas for heating, and access to gas is a crucial element of every fuel poverty strategy. Bowden added: “While we are waiting with our fingers crossed for the technology to arrive, or quadrupling the size of the electricity infrastructure and asking everyone with a gas boiler to rip it out and replace it with an electric one, we should not be having to depend on Russia, Qatar, Kuwait or some combination of these regimes to supply us with gas to heat our homes and supply the gas for our crucial chemicals industry.”

Voluntary adoption of the new carbon monoxide safety standard has been recommended for social landlords. The social landlords of Scotland have a good history of preventing carbon monoxide, gas and fire related injuries and fatalities; however the latest research shows that they could possibly do more to protect their residents. This is one of the major conclusions of a new practical health and safety guide published jointly by River Clyde Homes and HouseMark Scotland. The new report is entitled “Fire, Gas and Carbon Monoxide Safety Regulations: What Scottish social landlords need to know” and brings together guidance on all the relevant regulations in one comprehensive document. It reports that there were around 1,100 injuries and 29 deaths recorded as a result of fires in dwellings during 2013/14 compared with over 1,500 injuries and 76 deaths recorded in 2004/05. The data on carbon monoxide poisoning is less comprehensive, although the Health Protection Standard recorded 54 such incidents between 2002 and 2015. The study acknowledges that awareness and management of risk related to gas, fire and carbon monoxide poisoning has shown a significant improvement in recent decades, in particular in the social housing sector. However, it also states that although reported injuries, incidents and fatalities have decreased steadily over the last 30 years, the numbers are still too high. The report outlines significant variations in the way gas, fire and carbon monoxide risks are managed throughout the industry and calls for a more consistent approach. The guide particularly points out that there is no comprehensive requirement on housing association and local authority landlords to install carbon monoxide alarms in their properties, although this is now a requirement for private sector landlords. It recommends that social landlords should adopt these new CO safety standards on a voluntary basis to avoid them having to be enforced via new regulations.

Ainscough Crane Hire has provided lift support for the Queensferry Crossing. From its Falkirk depot, the Ainscough Crane Hire team has been helping to deliver the new Queensferry Crossing for Transport Scotland for the last three and a half years. Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) is the main contractor for the scheme in a joint venture with Dragados, American Bridge, HOCHTIEF and Morrison Construction. The new bridge is set to open next year and will form the centrepiece of an upgrade to the important cross-Forth transport corridor. The scheme was established after corroded cables on the existing Forth Road Bridge put the bridge’s future into doubt. The Queensferry Crossing will measure 2,637 metres in length and will be the second longest three tower cable stayed bridge in the world. The towers are 650m apart, with 146m of cable crossover, designed to stop the central tower swaying. Ainscough’s crane fleet has operated on site from the early stages of its construction. Most recently, Ainscough’s team has been working on the emerging road deck of the bridge. The scheme has brought with it various challenges including how to position a crane on the roadway, which is yet to be connected to the land. The solution to this was to lift a Liebherr LTM 1055-3.2, 55t all terrain crane onto a completed section of roadway using the tower crane connected to one the bridge’s 207m (679 ft) high towers. Having been stripped of its components that were not essential and positioned beneath the tower crane aboard a service barge, the crane was lifted into position and subsequently re-assembled for use in the bridge’s ongoing construction. Ciaran McNamee, Depot manager at Ainscough’s Falkirk Depot, commented: “The Queensferry Crossing has been a remarkable job to be involved with. We have had between four and six cranes on site every day for the last three and half years and have watched the bridge slowly emerge through the unified efforts of the contractors on site. “We are very proud of our involvement in the project and that we are helping to deliver this major piece of new infrastructure to the people of Scotland.”