PWC UK Limited

Evesham firm fined for worker’s fall through glass roof

PWC UK Ltd — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:32:19 +0000

An Evesham horticultural nursery has been fined after a worker suffered serious head injuries and fractured his hand when he fell through a glasshouse roof.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Westland Nurseries (Offenham) Ltd following the incident at the company’s premises on 4 December 2009.

Worcester Magistrates’ Court heard how the 21-year-old man, who does not want to be named, was cleaning a valley gutter between two roofs on a glasshouse when he fell about three metres through the glass, landing on a concrete floor.

He suffered concussion with blood on the brain, fractured his hand and sustained other cuts and bruises, and could not work for three months after the incident.

HSE’s investigation into the incident found Westland Nurseries (Offenham) had taken no measures to prevent workers falling from the glasshouse roofs and did not understand the risks involved when working at height.

Scaffolders call for changes to work at height regulations

PWC UK Ltd — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:28:14 +0000

The scaffolding industry is calling for work at height regulations to be tightened much in the way they are in the gas fitting industry.

The National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) issued the call in its response to the Lofstedt report, the government-commissioned review of the UK’s health and safety legislation.

The Work at Height Regulations are due to be reviewed by 2013.

To improve safety standards the NASC wants regulations to stipulate that scaffolders are ‘qualified’ rather than ‘competent’, as is currently the case.

Health and safety breaches ‘will be prosecuted with no hesitation’

PWC UK Ltd — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:29:43 +0000

Construction companies may like to look to online learning platforms for health and safety training to prevent accidents such as one in Hertfordshire that led to a significant prosecution.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has fined a company based in Hatfield and its secretary after workers were put at risk while refurbishing office space.

Premises of Haz International in Great North Road, Hatfield were found to have a serious lack of consideration for health and safety regulation when it received a routine inspection by the HSE in September 2009.

Watford Magistrates Court heard that the firm failed to implement safety precautions for the maintenance staff carrying out work to the building, in particular for those working at height.

Marchers remember fallen window cleaners

PWC UK Ltd — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:13:12 +0000

MINNEAPOLIS – With flowers and prayers, window cleaners and supporters remembered a co-worker and father who died doing his job in downtown Minneapolis.

Member of Service Employees International Union Local 26 held a memorial march Friday to commemorate the life of Fidel Sanchez-Flores, killed when he fell while working at the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis in 2007. He was one of three window cleaners to die on the job in the past three years.
The march occurred as some 60 window cleaners remain locked out of their jobs by cleaning companies in the Twin Cities. Local 26, which is in contract talks with the contractors, said the workers were locked out because they have been raising safety concerns.

The marchers stopped in front of two buildings they said are very dangerous to clean – the Oracle building at 9th St. and 2nd Ave., and the U.S. Bancorp building on Nicollet Mall. The workers said many buildings fail to have adequate places for workers to tie on safety equipment.
After a moment of silence in front of the IDS, Vielka Sanchez – Fidel Sanchez-Flores’ daughter – told marchers that their cause is just.
“Where my dad’s at right now – he’s so thankful you guys are doing this,” she said. “He’s 100 percent behind you.”

Window cleaners carried purple and yellow flowers that they laid in front of a large portrait of Sanchez-Flores. Rain began to fall as some wiped away tears.
James Miller, a window cleaner for 12 years, said he and his co-workers want to prevent further injuries and deaths on the job. While their union supports them in their effort to make their work safer, window cleaners without representation have no such support, he said.
Many get hired and start cleaning high-rise buildings without any training, Miller said. Not enough laws are in place to protect these workers, he said.
“You have to have a license to cut hair, but not to hang off a building,” Miller noted.

Article source – http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4423

Council fined for carbon monoxide leak at community centre

PWC UK Ltd — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:00:15 +0000

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has been fined for endangering people’s health after carbon monoxide leaked from a gas boiler at a community centre.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the local authority after members of a bridge club using the Westlands Community Centre in Whitfield Avenue called the fire service to deal with a suspected gas leak.

Fenton Magistrates’ Court heard fire fighters found extremely high levels of carbon monoxide escaping from the flue in the loft and evacuated the building.

Sections of the flue had come apart and the potentially lethal gas had built up and started to flow through an open trapdoor into a storeroom off the main hall.

HSE’s investigation into the incident revealed that the contract for maintenance and annual safety checks of all gas appliances in the 38 properties owned by the council, including nine households, had lapsed 12 months previously.

The court also heard that the 30-year-old boiler at Westlands Community Centre had not been checked for nearly two years before the incident on 30 March 2009.

“Labourers On Rope” Hit Town

PWC UK Ltd — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:53:16 +0000

High-rise buildings in Ghana can now be serviced without the hassle of a scaffold, following the entry of ROPETEC Ghana Limited, a registered rope access company, into the Ghanaian market. This resulted from the recognized need for specialised inspection and maintenance services in elevated, almost inaccessible locations. According to Bobby Dicks, Country Manager of Ropetec, the company specializes in Rope Access and Accessibility, offering inspection, maintenance, industrial and civil solutions. Speaking to The Business Analyst after a demonstration of its operations in Accra last Saturday, he said the company offered a wide range of specialized services to both the marine and industrial sectors.

Like ‘spider men’ embarking on a rescue mission, Ropetec operators were observed hanging and washing the windows of the ‘Opeibea House’ suspended only by ropes. The job, which would have taken weeks if scaffolds had to be used, took a few hours to complete in a clear demonstration of the ‘high-tech’ involved. Bobby Dicks said Ropetec Ghana had completed various projects in the past few months, all located on offshore installations, involving non-destructive testing (NDT), blasting, painting and general maintenance.

Firm fined for unsafe roof work

PWC UK Ltd — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:00:39 +0000

Three roofers were spotted working on top of a Nottingham cash and carry store without any safety equipment by a passing Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector, a court heard.

Nottingham Magistrates’ Court today fined roofing contractors SPV Road Carpet Ltd after the men were found risking their lives at the store on the Lenton industrial estate on 20 May 2009.

SPV employee, Lewis Male, was also prosecuted for failing to take reasonable care of himself and others. The court heard Mr Male was replacing sky lights with two others on the roof when he was spotted by a passing HSE inspector.

The inspector noticed the workers were using no safety equipment, edge protection or harnesses to prevent falls. It was discovered this unsafe system of work had continued over a period of three weeks, risking injury to the roofers and to employees and customers inside the store.

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Read More – http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2011/coi-em-256.htm

Building Site Manager Fined For Ignoring Safety Notices

PWC UK Ltd — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:21:54 +0000

A Cardiff construction site manager has been fined after failing to comply with two safety orders issued to protect workers from injury.

Mr Haider Zaman, 53, trading as Pride Builders, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for ignoring two Improvement Notices served while he was refurbishing two residential properties in the Cathays area of Cardiff.

During an unannounced inspection of the two sites on 1 March 2011, HSE inspectors found sub-standard safety measures in relation to working at height, asbestos safety and structural stability and issued three Prohibition
Notices ordering Mr Zaman to cease work immediately.

Housing 21 chooses Willmott Dixon for care project

PWC UK Ltd — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:05:55 +0000

Warwickshire is set to see five new elderly care facilities constructed after a contract for the work was awarded to Willmott Dixon by Housing 21.

The deal is worth around £38 million and will see the developer carry out construction works on the new homes over a two year period, starting in 2012.

Meanwhile, Housing 21 has a five-year contract with Warwickshire County Council for the building maintenance and management of the facilities.

In total, the scheme will deliver 355 new care units in addition to 21 self-contained bungalows, providing elderly people with somewhere secure to live, with support on hand if needed.

The first of the builds will get underway in July next year in Bedworth, with facilities also due to be located in Rugby, Atherstone, Stratford-upon-Avon and Alcester.

Housing 21 currently manages more than 18,000 apartments and bungalows in sheltered housing developments around the country.

It intends to add a further 1,000 properties to buy or rent to its portfolio by the end of 2012.

Willmott Dixon offers jobs for school leavers

PWC UK Ltd — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:54:18 +0000

Willmott Dixon Partnerships has launched a scheme to offer youngsters vocational training across the country.

Willmott Dixon Partnerships, the maintenance specialist of Willmott Dixon Group, has introduced measures aimed at tackling the issue of youth unemployment in the towns and cities where it has contracts, such as Birmingham, London and Scarborough.

The company has responded to a record youth unemployment rate, which has now topped 900,000, by incentivising the job training for school leavers.

The workforce at Willmott Dixon currently comprises 9 per cent of young people aged 16 to 24 who are employed in a variety of roles, with 46 apprentices and trainees working throughout the business.

Willmott Dixon does not impose a minimum number of qualifications which potential applicants need to hold for opportunities for work advertised through its Opening Doors scheme. This initiative comprises The Work Experience programme, The Building Maintenance Skills programme, and The Willmott Dixon Partnerships Apprentice programme.

Article sourced from http://www.heatingandventilating.net/news/news.asp?id=8931&title=Willmott+Dixon+offers+jobs+for+school+leavers