Amec Foster Wheeler announce 100RC partnership

The partnership with 100 Resilient Cities will provide data to help strengthen those cities involved.

Amec Foster Wheeler has announced a partnership that will enable cities to plan for weather that causes destruction.

Urban resilience will be built thanks to the partnership with 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) which will give access to the best technology to plan for inclement weather, and events such as earthquakes that can cause devastation on a mass scale.

Pioneered by The Rockerfeller Foundation, 100RC is committed to helping cities be prepared for physical, social and economic challenges, including the likes of fires, floods and earthquakes, along with everyday stresses that can weaken the fabric of a city.

The 67 cities already signed up benefit from support to build up resilience, financial and logistical guidance, membership to a global network of cities with this membership that can share guidance and learn from each other, as well as access to the best guidance to develop resilience strategies.

Amec Foster Wheeler’s position in this partnership is crucial, as its state-of-the-art data will be used to give cities forecasts on extreme weather, how these patterns will in turn impact infrastructure and will give fair warning to any other natural event.

The accuracy and advanced nature of the data means that cities will be able to pinpoint which parts of their infrastructure are at most risk, be it a road, railway line, runway or bridge.

This in turn means that those involved will be able to plan for tropical storms, hurricanes, snowstorms, earthquakes, ensuring that damage created is minimal and the weak points of each city can be corrected by harnessing such data.

Chief Executive at Amec Foster Wheeler, Samir Brikho, believes the partnership will help cities “thrive”.

He said: “Partnering with 100RC will enable us to harness our worldwide expertise in sustainability, emergency management, weather forecasting, environment and infrastructure to enhance cities’ capacity to thrive when experiencing shock and stress.”

The cities such as London, Sydney and Rio De Janeiro who are part of 100RC can expect to benefit from access to extreme weather forecasting, and data management support, to the point that even everyday occurrences such as heavy snow that can delay flights, or torrential rain which causes train cancellation can be planned for and minimised.

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UKTI DSO and MBDA event offers potential business for elite SMEs

Hand-picked UK Defence and Security SMEs given chance to work with MBDA.

33 UK defence and security small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were granted the opportunity to collaborate MBDA, one of the UK’s leading defence contractors, at a ‘Meet the Technologist/Innovation Day’ held on 30th June.

This marked the first occasion that MBDA had worked in collaboration with the UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) Small Business Unit (SBU) to host such an event.

Over 7,000 UK SME’s were contacted to attend the event but the strict requirements of MBDA meant that only 63 companies made it through the initial selection, with ultimately only 33 UK SMEs invited to attend.

The event also had representatives from Innovate UK, the MoD Centre for Defence Enterprise, the UKTI DSO Small Business Unit and the UKTI DSO Military Export Support Team.

The opportunity granted to these 33 elite SMEs has given them the aspiration of winning contract work with MBDA. The idea behind the scheme is that the supply chain created by working with larger established companies (primes), provides SMEs with a potentially lucrative outlet for their products and services, and allows them to be included in large export orders. The primes also benefit form this link up as it encourages innovation and increases the size and versatility of supply chains, which ultimately aids primes to fulfil their contract obligations.

One-to-one technical sessions were held, with each SME having private appointments with an MBDA technologist lasting at least 25 minutes. Due to the nature of the selection process implemented by MBDA, it is hoped that a high percentage of the SMEs will be able to go on and secure supply chain or other contract business with the company.

Philip Dunne, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, attended the event. During his keynote speech, Mr Dunne told the audience that the defence procurement budget was in good health and would be able to provide many opportunities for UK SMEs to win business.

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Heathrow decision: 9 talking points

The Davies Commission might have delivered its recommendation for a third runway at Heathrow, but the argument over airport expansion seems far from over.

Industrial deafness in construction a problem according to new figures

Despite this, new cases are down over the last ten years.

Tranter Cleere Solicitors has released statistics exploring the problem of industrial deafness and construction has been affected more than most annually.

It is certainly an issue that the industry needs to continue to have heightened awareness about because the very nature of the work involved means that many operate heavy duty machinery and generally work in noisy environments.

As well as being a problem in the construction industry, clearly industrial deafness and hearing loss is just as big a concern in other industries and the statistics outline this.

Tranter Cleere Solicitors’ figures are supplemented by statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Action on Hearing Loss, which used to be the RNID.

The last figures of total hearing loss in the UK said that 10.1 million people suffer from hearing loss of some form, with 3.7 million of working age.

Worryingly, the projected figures show that by 2031, that number is expected to have increased by nearly 50% to 14.5 million people.

Hearing loss is in four different brackets; mild, moderate, severe hearing loss, and profound deafness which is the worst.

In terms of industrial deafness, which is also known as noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), in the UK, the numbers have fluctuated over the years with a three-to-five year period where the figure has increased and fallen.

In general though, over the last five years, the number of cases has gone up, although new cases are on the decline when compared to ten years ago.

There’s also positive news where new cases are concerned; half the level from ten years ago.

Where construction is concerned though, it is one of the sectors that contributes the most new cases, with 1.9 per 100,000 employees – a figure only beaten by manufacturing which has 4.10 new cases per 100,000 employees.

In the ten years between 2003 to 2013, the new cases reported have fallen from 350 to 120 but the industry still needs to be remain vigilant, with an aging population, and both wider support and earlier detection are needed to alleviate these issues in the future.

The figures can be found at http://ift.tt/1LHN0rl.

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Progress report on Crossrail 2015

Prime Minister David Cameron joined the Secretary of State for Transport and the Mayor of London at Farringdon to mark the last of Crossrail’s 26 miles of rail tunnels being cut from underground the streets on London.

For almost three years, eight tunnel boring machines have been in operation, seven days a week, on the new rail line that will carry an estimated 200 million passengers per year running from Berkshire to Essex.

Network Rail is delivering major surface works on the existing rail network with a number of key phases completed including the first section of the Stockley Flyover; the installation of a new signalling system between Reading and the Heathrow Junction; the first mile of the Crossrail track has been in installed in Southeast London; the demolition of the existing Abbey Wood station has been carried out, and a number of surface stations have improvement works well underway.

In July 2014, it was announced by Transport of London that the contract to operate future Crossrail services had been awarded to MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Limited (MTR). Around 1,100 staff are expected to be employed by MTR, which will include nearly 400 new drivers and over 50 apprenticeships for people who live in communities along the rail route.

Crossrail has so far appointed 460 apprentices, exceeding the original target of 400 over the project’s lifetime. In addition to this, contractors have created 3,886 jobs for local people and those who had previously been unemployed.

Since opening in 2012, Crossrail’s Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy has had over 10,000 course enrolments. Currently, there are over 12,000 people currently working across 45 Crossrail construction sites.

With the excavation of the tunnels comes the creation of Wallasea Island, a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds nature reserve in Essex. Three million tonnes of excavated material from the Crossrail tunnels was delivered in 1528 shipments to create Europe’s largest nature reserve.

Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said: “When the first trains start running through these tunnels from 2018, Crossrail, together with the billions of pounds we are investing in the Thameslink programme, will transform travel across London and the south east. It will also play a vital role in driving forward our long-term economic plan by boosting business and creating thousands of new jobs.”

Crossrail is being forecast to be constructed within budget by the Crossrail Board with the final cost not expected to go beyond £14.5Bn.

The project is now over 65% complete, with work well underway on planning and delivering an operational railway from 2018.

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HSE figures show UK is one of the safest places to work in Europe

Statistics released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirm that the UK is one of the safest places to work in Europe, having one of the lowest rates in leading industrial nations of fatal injuries to workers for the eight consecutive year.

The HSE is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety and seeks to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health.

The provisional annual data for fatal work-related accidents in the UK shows little change from previous years, continuing the long-term trend that has seen the rate of fatalities fall over 50% over the last 20 years. The figures reveal142 workers were fatally injured at work between April 2014 and March 2015 ( a rate of 0.46 fatalities per 100,00 workers). This is in comparison to last year’s figures of a record low of 136 (0.45 fatalities per 100,000 workers). Given that fatal accidents at work are extremely rare, the annual figures are subject to chance variation.

The latest statistics show the rate of fatal work accidents in several key industrial sectors. Within the construction industry, 35 fatal injuries were registered – a rate of 1.62 death per 100,000 workers, in comparison to the average of 45 fatalities in the past five years and down from the 44 deaths recorded in 2013/14.

The agricultural sector recorded 33 fatal injuries – a rate of 9.12 deaths per 100,000 workers. A figure that shows no change in the past five years but an increase on the figures from 2013/14 where 27 fatalities were recorded.

The figures for the waste and recycling sector show that five fatal injuries were recorded – a rate of 4.31 deaths per 100,000 workers. This number is down on the past five years’ average of six deaths but up on 2013/14’s figures of four deaths.

The published data included a breakdown by country and region. Geographical locations indicate a great deal of variation in terms of industries and occupations. An example of this is that there are noticeably fewer employees in low risk occupational groups, with relatively more in higher risk ones in Scotland and Wales, as compared to England. Also, in some regions the amount of fatalities is relatively small and, as such, is susceptible to considerable variation.

The latest figures on deaths from asbestos-related cancer have also been released by the HSE. Mesothelioma, contracted through past exposure to asbestos, is one of a very few work related diseases where deaths can be counted directly and the figures show 2,538 deaths in 2013 compared to 2,548 in 2012.

The Health and Safety Statistics release in October will provide a more detailed assessment of the data. This will take information from the HSE’s full range of sources, including variations in non-fatal injuries and health patterns, with a fuller examination of trends.

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Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI shows increase in output

Confidence in 12-month outlook at highest level since 2004.

This morning saw the release of June’s Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI and the results showed a buoyancy of increased business activity and confidence in the industry.

Following the PMI of 55.9 in May, this has accelerated in June to 58.1, which is also the biggest increase in construction activity since February’s index.

Strong order books and more demand are seen as reasons for the growth in output from survey respondents. The latest figures show further encouragement by the fact that new work is at its highest level since October 2014.

Although activity in the residential sector is the fastest growing in June, the acceleration from May seems to be driven by activity growth in the civil engineering and commercial sectors since May.

Another feather in the cap of the survey is that the level of business optimism over the next 12 months is at an 11-year high with only 4% of the survey panel expecting a decline in output.

In contrast, 62% have forecast an increase, with companies believing there will be demand in residential projects, perhaps because of the Government’s push to increase new starts in housing.

Business confidence has also come about because companies expect to be tendering on commercial developments in the next 12 months, along with opportunities in infrastructure projects.

The Author of the Markit/CIPS Construction PMI, Tim Moore, believes that the removal of General Election uncertainty is a reason for the growth, but not the only one, saying: “The extent of the recent rise in construction optimism is partly down to relief that pre-election uncertainty has now passed, but it also suggests that firms are infused with confidence that underlying demand will continue to recover.”

The twin surge in confidence and output shown in the PMI has resulted in the fastest level of job creation in construction this year.

Purchasing activity in June from construction companies also accelerated, mainly as a result of the greater workloads, which was also a reason for job creation.

It all points to a very positive outlook in the construction industry.

Kathleen Brooks, Research Director at www.cityindex.co.uk, says that this “respectable” level of PMI in June points to the industry contributing positively to GDP.

She said: “The increase in the index to 58.1 from 55.9 is a respectable level and suggests that the construction sector will make a decent contribution to Q2 GDP.

“In contrast to the strong PMI figure, housing prices slipped to their lowest annual level since June 2013, according to Nationwide. This could spell good news for the construction sector as falling house prices may be a sign of growing demand.

“Overall, we expect construction to remain supported over the coming months.”

Kalpana Padhiar, the risk underwriting manager and construction specialist at Euler Hermes, believes that despite this buoyancy in the industry, there must be caution to avoid a repeat of some recent examples of companies going into administration or insolvency.

She said: “With the industry already buoyant following the revised 2015 growth forecast to 5.7%, June’s rise in output growth and surge in business confidence is further evidence of the momentum we’re currently seeing in the market.

“But despite the strong performance across the sector, the recent surprise failure of Longross Construction Ltd and other high profile administrations at Anglo Holt, GB Group Holdings and GB Building Solutions Ltd this year highlight the significant risks still present in construction.

“Even with confidence high, we would still urge caution and encourage companies to make sure they are protected against a potential domino effect should more businesses fail.”

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