Construction National

York Handmade plays pivotal role in 'magnificent' new library

The award-winning York Handmade Brick Company has played a pivotal role in the creation of a brand-new library at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

York Handmade, based at Alne, near Easingwold, supplied more than 300,000 bricks for the £17 million building at the historic college.

The contract is worth £300,000 for York Handmade, one of the leading independent brickmakers in the UK.

Read more: York Handmade plays pivotal role in 'magnificent' new library

Aarsleff execute the pile foundations for railway upgrade scheme in Sweden

Trafikverket, The Swedish Transport Administration, is upgrading and modernising the railway from Varberg to Borås by replacing tracks, overhead line and signal-box and introducing remote control on selected stretches of line. This will reduce operational disruptions and create a modern, robust, and reliable railway system from the south east coast of Sweden towards the North.

On behalf of main contractor Leonhard Weiss Gmbh, the Aarsleff collaboration, comprising Aarsleff Ground Engineering, Per Aarsleff A/S’ Construction Segment, Aarsleff Rail A/S and their Swedish sister company Anker AB are responsible for the design and build of the entire catenary system, from the deepest foundation to the wires and cables 8 meters above ground.

Read more: Aarsleff execute the pile foundations for railway upgrade scheme in Sweden

CONSTRUCT Day returns to celebrate the triumphs of concrete structures

CONSTRUCT Concrete Structures Group – the trade association for the concrete structures sector – has announced the go ahead for CONSTRUCT Day and Awards on 1 October 2021, after a year of event cancellations and postponements due to COVID-19.

CONSTRUCT is prepping for a bigger and better flagship event in 2021 in a brand-new venue.

Read more: CONSTRUCT Day returns to celebrate the triumphs of concrete structures

Visitor registration opens for Safety & Health Expo - in-person and Expo Connect

Visitor registration opens today for and Safety & Health Expo Connect 2021 and Safety & Health Expo in-person. Safety & Health Expo Connect 2021 is a brand new digital event running throughout the month of June. The upcoming Safety & Health Expo in-person will take place at ExCeL London from 12-14 July, providing the first opportunity in over two years for thousands of health and safety professionals to unite face to face.

“Both events present unmissable opportunities for the health and safety profession to reconnect and explore the innovative approaches that have been born out of a challenging year,” said Chris Edwards, Group Director at Informa Markets. “Attendees will get to grips with the latest solutions, keep up-to-date with health and safety strategies and regulations, and extend their network.” 

Read more: Visitor registration opens for Safety & Health Expo - in-person and Expo Connect

Essential things to know about precast concrete dividers

Most people pay little attention to the partitions that divide traffic on highways. For many of them, they just look like any concrete divider.

They may look simple, but their design is sophisticated. These barriers are well-tested and perfected. In case of a crash, the dividers ensure driver safety on both sides of the road. These innocuous dividers have a unique name – Jersey barriers.

Read more: Essential things to know about precast concrete dividers

PASMA training continues during pandemic

As restrictions start to ease across the UK, employers are being reassured that PASMA training is safe to do and widely available. If cards have lapsed over lockdown or new workers are using scaffold towers without one, now is the time to book them on a course. 

As we strive for normality, tower safety remains as important as ever.

No one wants their worker to become a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistic. But every single day in Britain last year, an estimated 99 people suffered non-fatal falls from height at work, resulting in the loss of around 572,000 working days (Labour Force Survey 2019/20). On top of that, 29 people sadly died, making falls from height the leading cause of workplace fatalities (RIDDOR 2019/20).

Read more: PASMA training continues during pandemic

College training to help the trades

Dundee and Angus College is proud to be at the heart of the local economic recovery helping people retrain or upskill to secure employment. If you work in certain industries, are currently under threat of redundancy, or have been made redundant at any time from 1 March 2020 and are aged 25 or over, you can access an industry recognised qualification.

New energy efficiency training funding has been made available for people living in Scotland who have lost their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) has distributed funding through the National Transition Training Fund (NTTF) to colleges across Scotland to allow them to upskill tradespeople. Supported by the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government, the NTTF funding will offer training opportunities in areas with the potential for growth in the labour market.  

Read more: College training to help the trades

Covid-related supply issues? Clark-Drain customers are at lower risk

It’s no secret that the combination of Covid and Brexit is creating supply chain issues that are affecting the availability and price of some building and drainage materials and products.

We have not been immune to this. The challenging cocktail of a surge in demand and difficult supply conditions resulted in low stock levels, and temporarily suspended our manufacturing activity (although we have kept our sales operations open throughout!) Plus, the need to create a Covid-safe working environment for our people, through social distancing, staggered shift patterns, and machine relocation, has added to the general disruption.

Read more: Covid-related supply issues? Clark-Drain customers are at lower risk

New Adjustable Offset added to the Galvanised Steel Range

Rainclear Systems, the UK’s leading stockist and online retailer of metal rainwater systems has introduced a NEW 2-part, adjustable offset to the Infinity Galvanised Steel and Colour Coated Galvanised Steel range available to buy online at www.rainclear.co.uk.

Read more: New Adjustable Offset added to the Galvanised Steel Range

Environmental hazard monitoring expert Casella announces 2021 webinar series

Global occupational health and workplace hazard monitoring expert Casella has announced its schedule of industry leading webinars for 2021. The schedule of free to attend, virtually accessible webinars covers Casella’s areas of core competency, including workplace monitoring for dust, gas and vapour hazards, as well as instrumentation usage and best practice. The sessions will also cover monitoring for Hand Arm Vibration (HAV) and sampling for asbestos. In order to reach worldwide attendees, two sessions will be run on each date, with one taking place at 10am and a later session at 3pm to ensure learners across multiple time zones can benefit. Each webinar will conclude with a Q&A session to recap. 

Read more: Environmental hazard monitoring expert Casella announces 2021 webinar series