Vivaldi

Cladding chief welcomes new regulatory powers to remove dangerous materials and prosecute rogue companies

Peter Johnson, chairman of Vivalda Group, the UK’s largest independent distributor of non-combustible facade products, has welcomed additional powers granted to the safety body charged with maintaining cladding standards in the wake of Grenfell Tower. It was confirmed this month (January 2021) that the new regulator for construction products, will

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Vivaldi Announced That They Will Be Teaming up With Ecosia

The Web browser, Vivaldi, has announced that they will be teaming up with Ecosia in order to support more environmental projects around the world. Ecosia is known for being a search engine that supports sustainability by planting trees, therefore the collaboration with Vivaldi ill enable the company to extend their

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Latest Issue
Issue 323 : Dec 2024

Vivaldi

Cladding chief welcomes new regulatory powers to remove dangerous materials and prosecute rogue companies

Peter Johnson, chairman of Vivalda Group, the UK’s largest independent distributor of non-combustible facade products, has welcomed additional powers granted to the safety body charged with maintaining cladding standards in the wake of Grenfell Tower. It was confirmed this month (January 2021) that the new regulator for construction products, will operate within the Office for Product Safety and Standards department. Granted an additional £10m of funding, this will give the new watchdog more responsibility to conduct its own independent product-testing when investigating cases of suspected malpractice. Cladding firms must now ensure that their products are safe before being sold – which includes testing cladding and associated products such as insulation against new, tougher safety standards. Reacting to the latest announcement from Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, Peter Johnson said: “This is definitely a step in the right direction for the cladding industry. Damning evidence heard from the Grenfell enquiry is liable to cast a long shadow of suspicion across the entire construction sector and so any additional quality assurances must be fully supported. Without independent and transparent testing and quality checks, nobody wins. “Indeed, my own company has lost several competitive contract pitches over the years to products where the fire test performance of a cheaper material is highly questionable owing to gaps in the certification. I would like to believe that such fast and loose practice is now a thing of the past. Certainly, this measure goes some way to stamping it out for good, thus providing what the industry and wider society demands – proven safety.”

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Vivalda is urging contractors to adopt off-site fabrication to combat the scourge of dust inhalation

Vivalda, the UK’s largest independent supplier of cladding systems, has kicked off the new year with a campaign to encourage contractors to consider off-site fabrication as part of their dust management strategy. Called Breathe Easy, the initiative includes the production of a video – voiced by Vivalda staff from every branch – highlighting the challenges faced by contractors. The campaign follows recent Health & Safety Executive (HSE) announcements highlighting the fact that every week, more than 10 construction workers die from dust inhalation. Moreover, Peter Baker, the HSE’s chief inspector of construction revealed recently that every year, 3,500 people in the industry die as a result of work-related cancers, mainly linked to asbestos and silica. A natural material found in rock, stone and clay, silica comprises tiny particulates that can become lodged in the respiratory system, causing lung cancer, tuberculosis (in those with silicosis), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition, silica exposure has been linked to other illnesses including renal disease and even cancers. Ben Jayes, managing director of Vivalda group, said: “Despite guidance from the HSE on dealing with dust on-site, ignorance among both contractors and on-site workers remains remarkably high. In a recent construction industry survey, it was revealed that while only 12% of firms admitted to treating dust as a ‘serious issue’ at work, only 16% of employees were aware of the risks. What’s even more sobering is the fact that there is plenty of legislation – in the form of COSHH and the Health & Safety at Work Act (1974) that mandates action here. “To help combat this issue, we are encouraging contractors to consider the adoption of off-site fabrication as part of the solution. While there are steps that can be taken to ensure workers cutting bricks, paviors, concrete and cladding material are following best practice, we think contractors should also consider transferring many potentially hazardous site operations upstream, using off-site fabrication to reduce their exposure to an HSE inspection. A good example of this idea in practice is the cutting of rainscreen cladding, which is typically made from concrete, rock, terracotta and mixed alloys.” Certainly, in recent months Vivalda has seen an increase in the number of contractors assessing the pros and cons of off-site fabrication as a way of minimising the amount of dust generated on-site. This benefit, along with the obvious improvements in productivity, accuracy and overall supply chain efficiency, will give extra impetus to the adoption of off-site construction techniques over the next few years. Jayes concludes: “All of our CNC machines deliver cutting accuracy down to the millimetre. But more importantly, each one is fitted with modern dust extraction filters, which are checked and replaced regularly. This means that we take on the responsibility of not only delivering cut to size panels – we also take away the headache of health and safety regulations which are quite rightly being enforced by the HSE.” To watch Vivalda’s Breathe Easy video, please see here:

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Vivaldi Announced That They Will Be Teaming up With Ecosia

The Web browser, Vivaldi, has announced that they will be teaming up with Ecosia in order to support more environmental projects around the world. Ecosia is known for being a search engine that supports sustainability by planting trees, therefore the collaboration with Vivaldi ill enable the company to extend their efforts supporting environmental projects. Because of this partnership, the people that use Ecosia in the Vivaldi browser will be able to transform their web searches in to trees that will be planted in some of the most environmentally threatened areas around the world. Ecosia is known to donate at least 80% of their profits gained from search ad revenue in order to support tree planting programs worldwide. This project means that Vivaldi users will be able to make a big difference to the environment just through using a search engine. By searching with Ecosia, users will be able to monitor their contribution, as a small tree counter, located in the top right corner of the screen shows how many trees that have been planted through the help of the user. Currently Ecosia state that they have planted nearly 7.5 million trees since the company was launched in 2009. It is hoped that the company will have planted 1 billion trees by 2020. This new partnership with Vivaldi will help Ecosia reach this target. This partnership is a reflection of the way that technology can allow millions of different people to contribute to environmental projects. Vivaldi began operating in 2016 and offers a flexible browsing tool that is fully customizable. The browser offers a range of unique features that includes a built in screenshot tool, customizable appearance of the browser, and the ability organise and handle tabs in a more advanced way than other browsers. Vivladi is an employee-owned company that has their headquarters in Oslo.

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