12/11/2024
In this blog, BWF Technical Director, Kevin Underwood, discusses the recent government amendments to the fire safety guidance in Approved Document B, set to take effect between March 2025 and ...
In this edition of News Update, the Chairman of the Construction Products Association implores government to hold its nerve on nuclear power in the wake of Fukushima, and urges it to put business first if it wants a return to sustainable economic growth.
There's also confirmation this week that window manufacturing has returned to the historic former site of Blairs Ltd. Managing your off-cuts and shavings in a cost effective way can be difficult, so there's a new online tool and survey to help you, plus news of a BWF member company leading the way for fire protected timber stairs. We also bring information of an increased focus on the safe use of sawing equipment after a spate of recent incidents. With only 27 days to go, time is running out to book your place at Members' Day on 19th May.
Regards Richard Lambert Chief Executive
In his speech at the Construction Products Association Annual Lunch, Chairman Bill Bolsover said that in order to secure a sustainable future for investment, the government needs to hold its nerve on the nuclear programme, reward ‘green’ products, and ensure that articulate local minorities don’t stand in the way of development.
The announcement comes at the same time as a CPA forecast suggesting construction output will fall by just under 1% in 2011 and by a further 2% in 2012 as recovery in private sector construction fails to match the sharp downturn in public sector spending.
Speaking to an audience of more than 450 senior industry leaders and government officials, Mr Bolsover had four messages to government:
'There is currently no viable alternative to nuclear power.'
‘The tragic events in Japan have inevitably led governments around the world to reflect on their own nuclear programmes. But the UK is not exposed to the same threat of natural disasters as Japan. Technology has moved on – the technology being used at Fukushima plants was developed at a time when we still didn’t require people to wear seat belts in cars. In the UK there is no viable alternative to nuclear – we simply don’t have a viable Plan B. Without it, the UK would not be a place where industry saw a sustainable future for investment.’
'Be bold with the Green Deal.'
‘To my mind it would be bizarre to continue to charge the full rate of VAT on those measures that might qualify for the Green Deal, such as insulation, double glazing, and more efficient central heating boilers. Reducing VAT on these kinds of products would, at a single stroke, stimulate the take up of a key government policy and drive forward economic growth through the economic activity and jobs it would create.’
'Review how we measure carbon.'
‘Between 1990 and 2004, carbon consumption in the UK has increased by a staggering 30%. What we have done is to outsource our carbon to Asia and other countries from where we have increasingly imported our manufactured goods. This cannot be right and is only made worse by imposing on UK industry a carbon floor price – a decision that has to be reversed. Government needs to start to measure the carbon content of the products we use and not just the emissions that are emitted from our factories.’
'Bring business to the heart of the localism agenda.'
‘Government must reinforce the importance of development as a platform for the economic success of communities and not allow localism to develop into a ‘nimby’s charter’ where articulate local minorities have the opportunity to stand in the way of those things that will lead to sustainable economic growth.’
The CPA also released a forecast showing that the steps that the government is taking to stimulate private sector growth are unlikely to be sufficient to outweigh the public sector cuts, at least in the short term, with key points including:
• Construction sector to fall 0.8% in 2011 and 2% in 2012 before rising 0.5% in 2013, 2.3% in 2014 and 3.9% in 2015
• Public sector construction work to fall £11bn by 2015, including major reductions in education and health
• Private sector construction work to rise £15 billion by 2015, with some growth in commercial offices and retail, and a major increase in both rail and energy infrastructure
• Even after five years of consecutive growth, private housing starts in 2015 are still expected to be 16% lower than in 2007, the pre-recession peak
To read more on these forecasts and the CPA’s recommendations to keep the construction industry afloat, visit the original news article on our website.
Contact: Richard Lambert T:0844 209 2612 E: richard.lambert@bwf.org.uk
Window manufacturing has returned to the historic Greenock site with the starting up of a new business, ‘Blairs Windows’, 3 months after Blairs Ltd went into administration.
Local Inverclyde firm Arranglen Ltd, which has interests in property, transport and manufacturing, stepped in to purchase the factory, striking a deal with receivers Ernst and Young LLP to buy the five-acre site and framing machinery for an undisclosed sum. A spokesperson for Arranglen this week confirmed that a new company, Blairs Windows had now taken over the site and had begun manufacturing on April 4.
Blairs Ltd had been battling the effects of the economic downturn and on 6th January, Fiona Taylor and Colin Dempster of Ernst & Young LLP were appointed as joint receivers. The company remained in receivership despite an attempt by Performance Timber Products Group (PTPG) to purchase its assets and business.
But in March, Arranglen Ltd struck a deal with Ernst and Young for the purchase of the manufacturing site in Baker Street, Greenock, with a view to re-establishing a window manufacturing business on the site.
The original company, founded in 1908, was a BWF member and one of the largest producers of bespoke timber windows in the UK. They employed 115 staff and manufactured a range of products including casement, tilt & turn, and sliding sash windows, in addition to a selection of doorsets. A spokesperson for Blairs Windows confirmed that the new company was, “producing a similar range of products in both hardwood and softwood and aiming at the same customer base as Blairs Ltd.”
30 people have been taken on initially at the site, but Arranglen Ltd are keen to re-establish further jobs, noting that, “The aim is obviously to increase this as the orders start to come in”. The spokesperson also added that the initial market reaction to the restart of window production at the site had been “very positive”.
Contact: Matthew Mahony T: 0844 209 2619 E: matthew.mahony@bwf.org.uk
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have been focusing heavily on the safe use of saws, which continue to cause the most incidents in the woodworking industry.
The most recent high-profile incident was that of a company fined last month after a worker severely injured his right hand cutting plywood using an unguarded rotating saw blade. This follows accidents such as one which lead to the prosecution of a company after an employee received horrific injuries, almost severing his left arm, when using a cross-cut saw. The number of cross-cut saw injuries have increased over the last two years.
Last month's fine came about after a theme park worker started using a table mounted circular saw that he had never used before. When setting up the saw he noticed that the blade guard was not attached to the riving knife but, as he did not know how to fit this guard he left it to one side.
After the employee’s colleague left, he decided to carry on alone as he only had a few sheets of plywood left to cut. As he pushed a long strip of wood through the blade using both hands to keep it straight, his right hand slipped forward and came into contact with the blade, cutting it badly.
He bound his hand up with his t-shirt and called for help. He was taken to hospital, where he needed a six hour bone graft operation to save his fingers. Doctors used bone from his hip and wire to rebuild his thumb, fingers and tendons.
He will need further surgery and doctors do not know if full movement to his fingers will ever return. He has difficulty tying laces and doing buttons, will longer able to carry out his previous duties as a maintenance worker, and has had to give up his hobby of DIY.
His employers pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) and (2) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and were fined £5,000. HSE Inspector Eve Macready said that the injuries, "would not have happened if the blade guard had been fitted", adding that, "Employers have a duty to make sure machinery made available as work equipment is safe."
In the wake of such incidents, HSE have redoubled their efforts to ensure that:
• Employers are aware of their duties to ensure that machinery made available as work equipment is safe, with the appropriate guarding fitted
• Companies recognise the need for competent trainers to provide better training. This includes how to use all the safety features of a particular machine correctly
• Supervisors make sure that employees work to the correct standards
• Only properly trained employees are authorised to use the equipment.
Contact: Michael Lee T: 0844 206 2612 E: michael.lee@bwf.org.uk
BWF Member Company and BWF Stair Scheme founder member JELD-WEN has become the first UK volume timber stair manufacturer to be certified by the Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) for its fire protected timber stairs.
Rigorous tests carried out as part of the BWF’s Stair Scheme confirmed that JELD-WEN’s timber stairs are effective as a means of escape, even after extremely hazardous fire conditions. No only does this show the stair was not consumed in a fire, but also that JELD-WEN’s fire protected stairs demonstrated that they could maintain their normal function in the event of a fire occurring within a stair enclosure. This was followed with the Company being evaluated by LPCB, which included approval of the company’s quality management system to ISO 9001, as well as assessment and surveillance of the factory production control system. Being certified to LPCB also includes ongoing periodic audit testing of the product.
BWF Stair Scheme Chairman Pauline Kelly said: “Achieving fire certification for timber stairs is a major step forward for our Scheme, for JELD-WEN as a manufacturer, and for the joinery industry as a whole. We can now prove that timber stairs are acceptable under the Building Regulations as escape stairs, which means that they are a viable and cost-effective option in multi-storey, multi-occupancy buildings.”
The LPCB assesses and certifies fire and security systems and services against standards, such as British Standards, European Standards and Loss Prevention Standards (LPS), which are developed in co-operation with manufacturers and insurers. It also provides independent third party certification and listing of fire and security products and services.
(L to R: Damien Ward – BRE Certification Consultant, Pauline Kelly – Director, E A Higginson & Company Limited, Tony Baker – BRE Certification Scheme Manager, Roy Anderson – Technical Manager -Stairs, JELD-WEN UK Ltd, Ian Purkis – Technical Director, JELD-WEN UK Ltd)
Ian Purkis, President of the British Woodworking Federation and Technical Director at JELD-WEN, said: “This is a really exciting development, as it demonstrates how timber stairs are a very real alternative to concrete for apartment buildings up to six storeys high, which will bring major cost and environmental benefits for developers.”
JELD-WEN also became the first timber stairs manufacturer to be accredited to the BWF’s Stair Scheme in the latter part of 2010. All accredited stairs are recognised by the scheme’s badge, which is fixed to the product in the factory.
Contact: Kevin Underwood T: 0844 209 2614 E: kevin.underwood@bwf.org.uk
There are lots of old sayings related to waste, but ‘another man’s treasure’ is certainly one that applies in today’s world. There’s definitely a boom in waste recycling these days.
Over recent years, we’ve all been encouraged to first reduce waste, and then to recycle the waste we do produce. In fact, with the tax on sending waste to landfill increasing yet again this month, the focus on reducing waste and managing disposal is heightened once more.
So how do you manage your wood offcuts and shavings? Can you help us – to help you?
As many of you are aware, we have been working with construction industry colleagues and government to improve the resource efficiency of the joinery industry, launching our Joinery Resource Efficiency Action Plan last October. In the plan we agreed to set up a measure of how we, and other parts of the timber industry, are progressing, and have set up a joint Annual Survey along with members of the Timber Trade Federation, to track improvements.
Please help us – by filling in and returning our short questionnaire, which can be downloaded here, or online here.
We hope to publish the result of our survey at Members' Day in May. Thanks for your help.
You can also use a new tool for waste management which is also available here.
This simple to use online tool allows you to enter your waste information as often as you wish, and monitor how you progress with your own waste management plan.
It's simple to register – just by create a username and password – and off you go!
Contact: John Fletcher T: 01246 292178 E: woodwaste@bwf.org.uk
