Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/578707
UTILITY WEEK | 2ND - 8TH OCTOBER 2015 | 21 £250 million programme of work in early 2013. Its invest- ment includes upgrades to 222 combined sewer overflows (CSOs) or outfall pipes – safety valves used to control waste- water during heavy rainfall. In total, 128 of the CSOs have now been completed. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, please send your pictures and details of the project to: paul.newton@fav-house.com. Operations & Assets L ooking back over 40 years, it is amazing how much of a contribution the site accommodation industry has made to improving the health and welfare of construction and utility workers. Back then, we provided little because there was little interest in looking aer the welfare of employees. When the HSE Act came into force, accommodation units were usually basic mobile or static (jackleg) cabins fitted with a sink and tap and very little else. Other requirements were met over time, from specifications about seating and dining furniture to drying rooms and toilet facilities with wrist-to-elbow sinks with hot and cold running water. Today, we have a small mobile unit or cabin with fitted kitchen, including microwave and kettle. We have a place to wash the dishes, seating that meets the requirements and a toilet with correct hand wash facilities. Just when you think we can come up with nothing else, we provide power without connecting to the mains elec- tricity in a secure unit that ticks all the boxes. We have all oen seen work being undertaken without the proper facilities in place, but what was acceptable in the past isn't now. Today there is no excuse for poorly equipped sites. The site accommodation industry can provide everything that is needed either in a mobile or a static unit – from washing facilities to cooking facilities, and in some cases, sleeping facilities. As an industry that cares about the future, we sup- port current initiatives. The manufacturers and hirers of the modular and portable build- ings industry represented the sector recently as part of the Strategic Forum for Construc- tion – Sustainable Construction Task Group. This group formed to look at ways of reducing carbon on construction sites, in which modular buildings play a large part. One of the problems that was identified was the use of welfare facilities and the lack of understanding by users of what this meant to the environment. All this means that today the welfare requirements for transient workers is high on the HSE's list. Employers must provide basic facilities: somewhere to rest, somewhere to dry clothes, fresh drinking water, washing facilities, warm and cold running water, and sanitary facilities. No longer are companies allowed to let employees man- age without the correct welfare facilities. And it is by working with reputable manufactur- ers and hire companies that employers can ensure that all welfare facilities on site are compliant with the regulations. Peter Beach, sales and marketing manager, Genquip Groundhog EXPERT VIEW PETER BEACH, GENQUIP Ensuring workers' welfare In decades past, site workers had to be provided with a cabin but little else. Today there are a raft of rules about the welfare provisions that employers are expected to pay for, and the HSE is waiting in the wings to make sure they do.