Festool, the supplier of high-end power tools and accessories, has launched a new Cycle Challenge to raise money for the British Lung Foundation (BLF) and to promote lung health to UK tradespeople. The Cycle Challenge will feature two static Wattbikes that will join Festool’s impressive UK roadshow on its European leg in July. Members of the trade will have the …
Read More »Roofing Company Fined After Safety Failings
A roofing company has been sentenced for safety failings related to working at height. Brighton Magistrates Court heard how numerous concerns were raised by members of the public about work being carried out by G & S Roofing Limited. The company twice ignored written advice to address the issue of working at height in an unsafe manner. In August 2016, …
Read More »Win an Aviva half mask from Scott Safety
Skill Builder has teamed up with Scott Safety to give away five of the company’s brand new Aviva half masks as tested by Skill Builder in this video. The new AVIVA 40 single filter half mask includes innovative design elements such as a hybrid reflex face seal, an easy-to-use leak check mechanism and goggle ‘pinch’. AVIVA 40 is suitable for a variety of applications including paint …
Read More »Company and Contractor Fined After Building Collapses onto Kent High Street
The owner of a building in Kent and the contractor employed to demolish it have been fined for safety failings after an uncontrolled collapse onto the High Street.
Read More »Mears Responds to Unite’s Beard Ban Criticism
In response to criticism from Unite the Union about a letter sent to some operatives regarding the use of dust masks and beards.
Read More »Row breaks out over beard ban
Unite, the UK construction union has condemned a decree by outsourced housing maintenance company Mears, which bans workers from having beards as ‘penny pinching stupidity’. Members of Unite employed on social housing maintenance work in the culturally diverse borough of Tower Hamlets, were said to be told at a ‘tool box talk’ that beards were now banned. Unite has subsequently …
Read More »Construction Company Fined After Member of Public Walked Onto Site and Drowned
A Glasgow based construction company has been fined after the death of an 83-year old man in Kirkcaldy.
Read More »Rudridge employees set to cycle in memory of colleague
Two Rudridge employees are gearing up for the challenge of a lifetime to raise cash in memory of a much-missed colleague. Paul Duke and Peter Burrell, from the civil and engineering groundwork specialists, will cycle from Paris to Geneva this September to raise money for the Stroke Association. Their route, which covers over 320 miles, will include hairpin bends and …
Read More »Web Based Tool Allows Builders to Easily Share Portfolios of Their Work
A new web-based tool designed to transform the way that building professionals market and sell products and services, has been launched worldwide.
Read More »Social media success for Roughneck products
Olympia Tools, the company behind the Roughneck brand of hand tools and workwear, says it has seen a surge in demand for its products thanks to social media. Two of the distributor’s products featured in posts that subsequently went viral, attracting interest from a global audience. The first product to prove a social media success was the Roughneck Tri Vice; …
Read More »Green Plans on Retrofitting Insulation a Lesson to Other Parties
The Green Party’s plans for retrofitting insulation in nine million existing homes are welcomed by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) at the launch of the ‘Green Guarantee’ manifesto.
Read More »Firms Sentenced Following Excavation Deaths
Two companies have been fined a total of £700,000 and a director has received a suspended prison sentence following the fatal crushing of four workers.
Read More »Worker breaks back fitting solar panels
Eco NRG Solutions Ltd and its director Jon Luke Antoniou have been fined after a worker fell from height at a farm in Cornwall. Taunton Magistrates Court heard how Lewis Harding, 28, had been fitting solar panels on a fragile roof at Venn Farm on the 19 May 2015. He fell more than three metres through a fragile skylight and broke …
Read More »Checkatrade highlights benefits of apprenticeships to school leavers and tradespeople
In millions of households across the UK, teenagers (and their parents), face an anxious few weeks as the GCSE examinations get underway. Sitting on average 15 exams in a range of subjects, as well as facing exam pressure, school leavers also must contend with making some big decisions regarding their future. Options post-16 include staying on at school, going to …
Read More »CCF crowns trade Superhero
Insulation and interior building products distributor CCF, has announced Tim Bryant of T Byrant Builders, as the winner of its Trade Superhero competition and a trip to New York City this month. Tim was crowned victorious after an independent panel of judges read about his superhero efforts to fix a drain in time for a children’s Christingle Service, and freeing …
Read More »How Can PAS 402 Help Reduce Waste in Your Building Project?
The industry standard PAS 402 is helping construction firms meet their waste management targets. Reconomy explains more.
Read More »Groundworker killed by reversing vehicle
A construction company and its groundwork contractor have been fined after a worker was killed by a reversing vehicle. Exeter Crown Court heard how an employee of Steve Hoskin Construction Limited (SHCL) was working for the groundwork contractor at a construction site in Dawlish, Devon when he was crushed by a reversing telescopic material handler. John Small, 47-years old, was …
Read More »Labour right to link housing and skills says FMB
The Labour Party’s proposal to link up housing and skills policy would be the right approach for a post-Brexit UK, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has said in response to the publication of the Labour Party’s manifesto. Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “Labour’s pledge to integrate housing and skills policy is the right approach to tackling …
Read More »Crossrail Creates 6 Hard-Hitting Health & Safety Video Resource
Crossrail is encouraging construction firms large and small to make use of a series of videos that have been created for the Crossrail project which focus on some of the health impacts and safety risks faced by construction workers. The six films use different fictional scenarios to depict realistic situations, which could happen when basic health and safety controls are …
Read More »Damp and mould problems leaving UK tenants living in squalid conditions
Research conducted by housing charity Shelter has revealed that hundreds of renters – including those living in bigger, urban areas – are living in slum-like conditions due to damp, mould, infestation and electrical issues. The report, from Shelter and YouGov, took statements from 300 tenants across the Manchester region. The majority expressed concern about ongoing struggles with damp and mould …
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