UK

Why Are Risk Assessments Important For The Construction Industry

Construction blogger

The construction industry is an area that is full of potential risks and therefore a thorough risk assessment is essential for any project. The construction industry is one that has the potential for a wide range of health and safety issues to rear their head, and carrying out a risk assessment is one way to ensure that the chance of any incidents occurring is as small as possible, protecting everyone involved with the project.

Risk assessments not only involve identifying potential risks of a construction project but also weighting these against numerous other factors, including contractual obligations, financial constraints and the requirements of the proposed projects. It is important to consider the health and safety risks of a construction project in conjunction with these other factors and not as singular problems that are not affected by other aspects of the construction project, doing this could mean leaving yourself open to other risks you may not have initially considered or prepared for.

There are numerous qualified health and safety consultants that can be employed to carry out professional and thorough health, safety and risk assessments and have experience in a wide range of settings, including within the construction industry. Having an expert carry out a risk assessment on any construction project is imperative, especially as construction is often considered a high risk area, and these risk assessments can highlight issues that you may not have even considered could be a risk or potential problem, allowing you to prepare for potential problems and minimise the chance of them occurring.

Often to coincide with risk assessments many companies further this by employing the same companies to carry out air testing of the environment after project completion to ensure it meets and complies with UK building regulations. There are specialist risk assessments and air testing companies across the country that have experience in a number of fields including the construction industry. These often provide services locally, for example specialising in risk assessment in the Dorset area and air testing Bournemouth.

When undertaking any project, whether this is a construction project or any other one it is imperative to consult with experts and have a thorough and complete risk assessment carried out prior to starting. And by contacting the experts you can ensure that all the risk have been evaluated and health and safety measures have been put in place to reduce the risks to everyone involved.

What You Should Know About Theft of Construction Equipment

Construction blogger

People often think that it’s basically impossible for construction equipment to be stolen, since it would be pretty noticeable if someone started driving a crane down the street. But, many construction equipment thefts are easy to conduct for quite a few different reasons. It’s actually really easy to get away with, and has become commonplace in countries such as the US, Canada, Japan and Europe. People should, therefore, be made aware of such thefts going on in their areas.

Because construction equipment doesn’t come with doors or locks, they are easy for burglars to break into. Thieves feel that hi-jacking construction vehicles is a piece of cake compared to most other types of vehicles. And people won’t be able to tell if the equipment being driven is being operated by a thief or construction worker. Most people wouldn’t recognize a piece of construction equipment if it was camouflaged somehow.

Thieves find it beneficial to steal this kind of equipment because it can command a high price on the black market. Forklifts alone can fetch a price of $12,000 to $50,000, and thieves could sell a generator for $150,00 a pop. Because constructions sites often have lots of these kinds of equipment, it’s easy money for clever thieves. Criminals are very fond of stealing construction vehicles for these reasons, not to mention the fact that most construction sites are unsecured and the vehicles are left out in the open with no protection.

The problem has become too severe to be ignored any longer. According to statisticians in Japan, roughly 450 pieces of construction equipment was stolen in 2008 alone. While in the united states, the National Insurance Crime Bureau found that nearly a billion dollars in construction equipment is stolen and sold each year on the black market.

To date, numerous government agencies and manufacturers of construction equipment have tried their best to prevent this theft from continuing. In the UK, construction equipment registration systems make it easier for the police and the companies who own the equipment to recover their stolen goods.

The Uk Construction Trade’s Decline

Construction blogger

There is some dangerous news for those of you who step into your protective overalls for every day on the construction site every morning. Analysis by the Construction Merchandise Association (CPA) has shown that the construction business is going to continue declining for three a lot of years. Output is anticipated to fall by virtually 10 % this year and another four % the following year. This forecast is a lot of grimmer than previous reports and if this decline happens as predicted, it will be the most important decline in 30 years.

Chief executive of CPA Michael Ankers said, “The speed of decline is having a dramatic impact on many elements of the construction industry and is being driven by an unprecedented reduction in personal sector investment resulting from the credit crunch and economic downturn.”

The credit crunch affects all business sectors, significantly the motor and property industries, and the development industry is certainly no exception. The house building and repair sectors are the toughest hit with house starts expected to fall to their lowest level since the fifties and maintenance and residential improvements expected to fall by 15 % this year alone.

In addition to the present grim forecast, past construction output speaks volumes. Within the last 3 months of 2008, construction output within the UK came to ?19.3 billion which is ?1.5 billion down from the identical time period in 2007. But, the total output for 2008 was just about on par with the overall output for 2007.

However, construction output in some areas is seemingly to extend in the following years. Rail construction work ought to increase dramatically in the subsequent five years; the CPA report has predicted that it can increase by a hundred ninety%. Additionally to the current, public construction that is not housing-connected will go up by over 20 p.c in the following 2 years. Michael Ankers has asserted that the only sectors where construction output is forecast to extend are linked to public spending.

Spending on construction for education is expected to extend by nearly 30 p.c in the next 2 years, mainly because of the Building Colleges for the Future programme. The development trade is relying heavily on public spending throughout the recession. Luckily for those utilized within the trade, spending on public construction comes creates significantly more employment than different sectors of the trade and mainly British merchandise are used. This is often really the silver lining of the recession storm cloud for the trade and the well-developed British public sector is to thank for this.

An Introduction To Construction Equipment

Construction blogger

Construction equipment refers to all vehicles and machinery designed for the purpose of the construction of buildings or any other man-made structure, and it performs tasks that were in the past impossible or difficult for humans alone to undertake by multiplying the input force so that the force exerted is much greater.

Hydraulics is the most common method for the transfer of power in construction equipment, which in layman’s terms is the transmission, control and distribution of energy and signals via pressurised liquid.

Types of construction equipment

Most people will have seen, and are able to identify, common types of construction machinery on building projects around the country. Construction is big business around the world and the UK is no exception. The UK has a huge amount of new-build estates and, while the recession has slowed the housing market somewhat, building sites are still a common sight as you travel around the country.

Here is an explanation of common forms of construction equipment you may have seen.

The crane

The crane is a huge lifting machine that’s used to move objects and materials vertically up or down, or horizontally across. It creates mechanical advantage allowing the movement of materials that wouldn’t be possible by human strength alone.

Cranes are commonly used in the transport industry as well as the construction industry for the loading and offloading of freight.

The first ever known cranes were invented by the Ancient Greeks and powered by humans or animals capable of bearing weight such as donkeys. During the middle ages, harbour cranes became popular to facilitate the construction of ships, and also to help load and offload their cargo.

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, cranes were fashioned from cast iron and steel, which was much stronger than the wood they had previously been constructed of.

Excavators

These examples of construction equipment is commonly referred to as the digger, and is used to dig trenches, holes and building foundations, as well as for demolition, forestry work and heavy lifting. Colloquialism for the digger is JCB which is the name of the main manufacturer of such machinery.

There are many types of excavator including the compact excavator, the long reach excavator, the dragline excavator, the suction excavator and the power shovel.

Although well regulated nowadays, the construction industry has in the past been a dangerous one with many injuries and deaths occurring each year through dangerous practice. It’s essential that before a person used any construction equipment, he or she must undergo the correct training so as not to put anyone at risk of injury.