Safety Update - Jubilee Celebrations ;o)

OK so we can't be serious all of the time and with the holiday weekend coming up we felt it a good time to start getting in the swing of things and with some good news!

It is party time , so don't get all hung up with risk assesments and paperwork and it is official.  On the 22nd May the Government said:

"Celebrations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee should go ahead unhindered by bogus health and safety restrictions"

Furthermore Erick Pickles, th Communities Secretary, said:

"Unnecessary and irrelevant health and safety regulations should not be used as an excuse to prevent people to celebrate; the only red tape in sight should be the Jubilee bunting hanging in the streets."

And HSE Chair Judith Hackitt added:


"The Diamond Jubilee is going to be a huge celebration. We want to ensure that the hours of planning and preparation lead to successful and enjoyable events. Health and safety law does not to apply to local events organised by community volunteers and a few sensible precautions to deal with any potential minor incidents are all that is required. We are encouraging people to challenge decisions when they think health and safety is being used as an excuse and the Panel is ready to help."

Often health and safety is invoked wrongly to disguise a person's real motives - an unwillingness to honestly defend an unpopular decision, concern over costs or complexity of running an event, or worries about potential civil liability claims.

Plans are already underway for celebrations around Britain for the extended weekend of 2-5 June.

Some local authorities have already acted to get rid of red tape and make it easier for local residents. Essex County Council have had more than 3,000 visitors to their helpful Jubilee planning webpages and Hampshire County Council are encouraging people to go ahead without costly insurance when it's just unnecessary."

The HSE have also produced some tips for a safe weekend of partying:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/news/jubilee/index.htmWhen you all return to work after the holiday we will be here to help you deal with your asset management, access and safety projects.  As for the hangover we can only sympathise!

Keely's Success

Keely, our Finance Manager, has just got the happy news that she has passed her Association of Accounting Technicians Level 3 Diploma in Accounting with flying colours.

This is a great achievement, as many people take two or more attempts to complete the exams, and even more praiseworthy is that Keely wanted to start with the Level 2 Course, but was persuaded to go for the higher level course by Simon, with encouragement from our Accountants.  Keely's success wasn't a given and is the result of hard work and dedicated study. Well done from all at Up and Under!

"The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) has over 100,000 members worldwide and is the leading association for Accounting Technicians. An AAT qualification speaks volumes in the Accounting industry in terms of being able to demonstrate the skills required of an Accountant." ATT Website

Up and Und (Specialist Contracts) Paint the Town Red

Well at lease part of it ;o)

We have completed part of a footbridge clean and paint project and the difference is a delight.

Before

After Up and Under

Safety Update - Work at Height

A couple of recent court verdicts have highlighted the issue of safe working at height
 In one case it was noted that the company had ".....failed to carry out a specific risk assessment for the work, and failed to ensure adequate measures were put in place to reduce the risk of a fall." a fall that resulted in fractured vertabrae.
 In another case "the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that no scaffold platform with guard-rails and toe-boards or any other form of fall prevention equipment were in place to prevent falls either from the edges of the flat roof or at the edge of the lower porch roof.". Again serious injuries resulted.

Remember a place is ‘at height’ if a person could be injured falling from it, even if it is at or below ground level. There is no minimum height!

For further guidance read
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.pdf



We offer a range of services that may be useful to you including:


• Site safety audits


• Preparation of site specific risk assessments


• Work at height training from awareness to fall arrest

Examples are from the HSE news site

OlympicTorch Relay Route

Andy has been advised that he will be the first person to carry the Olympic Torch in his home town of Crewe on 31st May.  The Flame should arrive at 8.03am and be put into Andy's care for 300m between Colridge Way and Macon Way along Hungerford Road.  For anyone coming to watch the Relay we will be hosting a bacon butty breakfast afterwards, at our offices, where you will be able to view the Torch up close.

Please let us know if you are coming so that we can get the numbers for catering. 

Up and Under get this bit ;o)

The Road Closures

Legislation Update - Regulation Review

Consultation is currently taking place regarding the removal of 14 items of legislation considered to be unsuitable or superseded by other requirements. The period for making comments on the proposals finishes at the end of July 2012.

 

Among the legislation being considered for removal are: Construction (Head Protection) Regulations

• Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes

 

 



Up and Under - Why?

This is a long one, put your feet up and enjoy it ;o)

We use a lot of space here explaining what we do, both at work and at play so I thought it was about time we took some time to explain why we do what we do.

Back in 1987 it seemed pretty simple, Andy was skint and didn’t fancy the idea of going back into another contracting company as site fodder so he set up his own company.

Today the picture is very different, we have a much clearer picture of why Up and Under exists. When you get down to the nub of it, it is a simple phrase. “We want every contact with the Up and Under Group to be beneficial”.

This apparently simple phrase is, however, far reaching. It touches people both within and outside the company, and it is important for our national infrastructure and industry. A big claim for a small phrase I hear you say, but let me explain.

On a personal level we are committed to personal development of our team, well beyond the needs of their job, we want them to be the best they can be. Often this is uncomfortable, because many people are happy where they are and don’t, for example, want to take the risk of failure associated with say taking a course or an exam. The fulfilment that comes with success (and sometimes just from trying) is exciting to witness. We have seen many times that experience is like a ratchet, a one way thing, Once you have pushed yourself you are better for it and you don’t go back to where you were before. A further benefit is that growth in one area can spill over into others, so enhanced technical competence can make a person more confident, which can then improve their social situation.

We believe in pushing people because everybody can be a bit better and most of us need a little encouragement to discover just how much better.

So, it is easy to see how we can have a beneficial effect on our staff, after all we can exert a degree of control over them, can’t we? Well actually no, virtually everything people do in the workplace is consensual, they have to want to do it. In modern western economies it is simply impossible to micromanage knowledge workers. So it all comes down to trust and cooperation. So back to beneficial experiences. It is important to create an interesting and supportive work environment. Why? to make the company more productive or successful, well yes that is an outcome, but remember we are starting from the place where the reason we exist is to create an environment which is beneficial to all. While we are on the subject some simple truths, only profitable businesses survive so that is a necessity, and yes appropriate remuneration forms part of the mix.

Let’s explore “every contact” a little further and stretch your thinking a little. We want bridges, buildings, railways and the very infrastructure of the country to benefit from Up and Under existing. During every year we inspect or maintain many hundreds of structures, many of them essential for the effective operation of, the much quoted, UK PLC. We understand our place in this complex operation and understand that without roads hospitals cease to be effective, without effective pipe networks water stops arriving at our taps and small pieces of concrete falling off buildings could kill parents, friends or lovers. Our job has national importance and we undertake it with these things in mind. You would find a fascinating attention to detail and application of skill if you were to watch one of our teams, often working in difficult circumstances and in all weather, but they know why they are doing what they are doing. Ultimately it keeps people safe. This is commitment to make everybody’s lives a little bit better and one that most people will never be aware of, but night after night we are caring about your lives.

Ah, but what about our customers, the people paying the bills? Well if you have worked with Up and Under for some time you will know the answer to this one. We want to help you to get the best outcome, we roll up our sleeves, sit down with you and really try to get to the solution you need. This isn’t always straightforward and there have been many tense moments and raised voices, but we are in it together and so long as the result is a good one for all we are happy. We talk a lot about ‘fair’ here and we use that as an important measure of relationships and outcomes. It may sound a little old fashioned, but fairness is always our goal.

We don’t forget suppliers either, they provide a broad range of opportunities for mutually beneficial activities. We have created markets with suppliers by bringing several products from one market to another, always with joint input. We have also been supported by suppliers with technical input or leads. We treat these suppliers with loyalty and fairness, which creates trust which generates more business.

In a piece about having a beneficial effect we can’t exclude the work we do through the Up and Under Foundation, encouraging youngsters to get experiences in the outdoors and other activities. These experiences improve confidence, as well as imparting new skills, and for many are life changing. In 2007 we committed to use a proportion of every invoice we raise to these and other causes, not to fulfil some CSR* quota, but because we think it is the right thing to do; oh, and it is important to note that the commitment was a levy on turnover, not profit!

Every summer our office seems to be taken over by Uni students or school leavers who want to see what civil engineering is like. Admittedly they get a view through Up and Under glasses, but it is pleasing to see the successes they go on to achieve. And success is something we love to encourage, from the many people we have supported through University to the companies past employees have established - many of which are now clients or suppliers - and through the companies who have joined the Up and Under Group.

All of these things we do because we feel it is right to do them, not through some calculated process designed to improve bottom line. The great thing is that the more “Good Stuff” we do the more successful the business becomes. We’ve had people - staff, customers, students, suppliers - leave and come back and others who just seem to stay for ever and you know why? I wish I knew, but perhaps being part of the Up and Under family is a nice place to be, we certainly try to make it that way. Joins us and tell us what you think.

*Corporate social responsibility

Legislation Update - Asbestos

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012



The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 [1]came into force on 6 April 2012, updating previous asbestos regulations to take account of the European Commission's view that the UK had not fully implemented the EU Directive on exposure to asbestos (Directive 2009/148/EC).


In practice the changes are fairly limited. They mean that some types of non-licensed work with asbestos now have additional requirements, i.e. notification of work, medical surveillance and record keeping. All other requirements remain unchanged.

First Aid - Got it Covered

Half of the team at Up and Under have completed their Appointed Person 1 day First Aid Course today with lots of blowing into dolls and a few gruesome videos (and that was just the soundtrack!).  The second half will complete the course in the next couple of weeks.

Minimum training levels are not our way! Would you want to be the sole injured first aider on site?  At Up and Under we can all pitch in to help.  

The normal period between training courses is three years not here we do it every year. Our instructor today said "you are unusual in doing the course every year, it is a great thing to see"

Another benefit is that we will send out into the community nearly thirty people trained in basic first aid and the stats say that these people save lives.  It is just one more way that we keep people safe.

Quiz 2 Answers

Here are the answers for the 1988 quiz, we only had one correct entry.

Q1 Battersea Bridge was hit by a rubbish barge.

Q2 A Slip Brick is :
A solid tile, either cut from one face of a brick or specifically manufactured to similar dimensions; usually about 1 in. (2.5 cm) thick. Used to simulate brickwork construction either for prefabrication or in facing in situ concrete members. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction

Q3 It is the clock Tower atte Royal Naval College in Dartmouth

Congratulations Pete Elkington 1988 Quiz winner, prize on its way!