Contract Journal - Construction Space

cscs card

makolic — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:49:06 GMT

Hi,I have been a Carpenter for 32 years,but with no formal qualifications.i was taught on site.I have a Experienced worker CSCS card,which lasted 1 year,and has run out.I managed to get a 6 month extension,which runs out in feb 2010.I have been unemployed for 10 months due to the recession.Because iam unemployed they will not access me on site,SO NO HELP IS AVAILABLE,because iam unemployed.NO CARD NO JOB.Does anybody have any advice they could offer.I also spoke to an assessor who told me the funding had been withdrawn.But they were FAST TRACKING EASTERN EUROPEANS.Any help,CHEERS.

Asbestos - risks exaggerated?

Will Mann — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:41:02 GMT

Some interesting views from one of our readers here, who reckons the dangers of asbestos are greatly overplayed.

What do ConstructionSpace members think?

Asbestos Watchdog has for the last ten years being trying to get the HSE to accept that white asbestos cement is not a risk akin to radio active anthrax. Unfortunately all our submissions of scientific data have been ignored [this is in breach of the HSE’s own charter ] and the only reply we have had has been to subject us to a well co-ordinated dirty tricks and smear campaign.

It was a tremendous support to our campaign when the Advertising Standards Authority [ ASA ] examined all the scientific evidence from us and the HSE and correctly concluded that 4500 workers do not die each year from asbestos exposure. For our part we only submitted science papers produced by the HSE itself, rather than from the vast body of independent research worldwide which also supports our claim.

This first proper examination of the HSE’s assessment of the asbestos risks is just the start of a number of opportunities we are organising to get a full public debate into this expensive deception. Firstly let’s put the problem into an easy analogy. With all poisons the danger is in the size of the dose. If one aspirin can cure a headache and a bottle full can kill, then just how safe are aspirins? If the HSE assessed the risks of aspirins based on a whole bottleful being consumed every time then would a total ban based on this evidence be acceptable?

This in fact is exactly what they have done over white asbestos. [ The one fibre kills mantra is total rubbish ]. In doing so the HSE have become nothing more than the sales and marketing arm of the vested interests. The HSE state that this ASA’s decision is only a technical glitch involving only one complainant and they intend to appeal. This is neither a small matter nor a glitch and Asbestos Watchdog is not alone but shares its views with the main body of asbestos science worldwide.

As for an appeal the HSE had over a 9 month period sent the ASA masses of evidence to support their position but failed. However, the HSE will be pleased to know that they will be required to present their case publicly as we are planning to have a full enquiry organised by opposition MPs. We would also like to know who actually paid the £1.48 million for the HSE’s campaign. The individuals behind the dirty tricks and smears against anyone who dares to question the HSE’s asbestos regulations are now to come under a police investigation to see if there has been any criminal deception involved and, in addition, offences under the new law of Aggressive Harassment may have occurred.

The Unions are also objecting to the ASA ruling but they will have to answer questions about how much commission they earn from referrals of their members to claims lawyers. At least 2 MPs are to be questioned [ both have had to leave the Labour Party over expenses fraud etc ]. Aggrieved doctors and scientists supporting the 4000 + deaths from asbestos will have to disclose how much the claim lawyers are paying them to support this deception.

As for the HSE’s claim that this campaign was an award winner, it turns out that this ‘award’ was in fact only a nomination for the advert of the month by the in house Awards for National Newspapers Advertising [ ANNA ] who have confirmed that they do not issue awards of the week. More exaggerated smoke and mirrors as usual.

So there is much debate to come on this issue. Meanwhile, all we want is for the HSE to make some small changes to the regulations and guidance notes that will make sure no one is put at risk but will stop the regulations which are at present being used as a ‘cowboy’s charter’. Most important of all we want to stop the claims culture from sucking the available compensation away from genuine victims and save businesses from being crippled by unnecessary asbestos removal. The HSE have refused to consider any alterations to the regulations and continue to avoid any public debate to explain their position. Now with the debate becoming public this deception will finally end. “

Scrappage scheme for vans

barry08 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:34:08 GMT

Wondered if anyone was considering trading in an old van as part of this scrappage scheme?

Are All These Foreign Workers Really Saving Our Construction Industry?

TonyRed — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:31:15 GMT

I am a multi qualified construction worker. I am an AP/Crane Supervisor, qualified carpenter for 25 years, Slinger/Signaler, Health and Safety Advisor and I am fed up with reading this rubbish that the building industry would be on it,s knees without the massive influx of foreign labour over the last 4 years. They are the reason that your honest well qualified worker is back in the same position that we were in in 1992! Back getting ripped off by agencies and treated like second class citizens. The unions were warned 4 years ago by me and I was given the usual reply, you,re a rascist! Rubbish. I,m a realist and want to look after my own future. The sooner the top jobs in the unions go to foreigners, do they know they can vote for their own to stand on the exec council?, the better. They would start to panic when their cushy number is taken by a Pole, Roumanian or Portuguese building worker. The same could be said for our MP,s. The foreigners could get a British passport as well as a house, benefits and ruin our infrastructure and then run for Parliament. There are that many foreigners in every city they would walk into Parliament and see how our current batch of cheats and robbers, I mean MP,s react to losing their jobs. Something would be done then.

Project Management

robidi — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:24:37 GMT

Are there any contractual implications in using Project Managers if so what sort of implications are they?

Trying to write a report on PM and this has cropped up.

Thanks, any help would be greatly appreciated.

IOSH who a member and why?

Stock.. — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:20:34 GMT

I am considering joining this organisation ?,Who here is a member and what benefits have you gained since becoming a member?,would you recommend it ?

Steelwrist or Tiltrotator - anyone used them?

barry08 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:20:35 GMT

I wondered if anyone had ever tried using either the Steelwrist or Tiltrotator.

Are they any good? Worth the money - as they seem quite expensive?

Having seen them demonstrated, they look impressive but quite a challenge for an operator used to a conventional excavator.

Would be interested hearing from anyone who has experience of using them.

ConstructionSpace Forums - Option for Relocation?

nrdoughty — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:44:34 GMT

Hi All -

It's sad to hear about the imminent closure of Contract Journal and www.contractjournal.com. Like much of the industry we have been long-term subscribers to the print edition - and follow the CJ updates on Twitter. It's a valuable resource that will be missed.

I've not been active on the ConstructionSpace forums but can see that there is a vibrant community here - and as Asite has an option for helping keep this alive I thought I'd toss it into the ring!

We launched the Asite Community at the end of June as part of our Asite Summer '09 Release. It is free to sign-up and free to use and we'd be happy to work with you to replicate the forums hosted here on ConstructionSpace, and to look at enabling photo galleries and user blogs.

We're looking to grow the Asite Community and to expand its reach into more general industry discussion anyway (to date it has been largely discussion about the Asite platform) - so it may be that this is a good fit for enabling ConstructionSpace to live on in another form.

I'm keen to hear thoughts on this in any case.

Kind Regards,

Nathan

Looking for work on the Olympics

paddyman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:29:29 GMT

can anyone help me,i'm a plasterer returning to the uk after working abroud for many years,would like to know how i would go about finding some work on olmpic village

Contract Journal to close

EEPaul — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:53:43 GMT

Got an email from Reed Business Information this morning...

On a sadder note, the end of this month will see the closure of Contract Journal and its sister web site www.contractjournal.com. Like the construction contractors it serves, Contract Journal has been hit severely by an unprecedented market recession which has slashed advertising volumes by more than half. The editorial and sales team have reacted superbly to the downturn, producing great content and satisfying the needs of the much smaller advertising base. But despite their efforts, the market is now not large enough to support a large circulation free title. The last issue of Contract Journal will be at the end of the month and Contractjournal.com will close simultaneously. Every effort is being made to redeploy the staff elsewhere at our parent company Reed Business Information (RBI).

So the end of Contract Journal, and presumably the end of Construction Space too?

Job of the week boys!

Supadoopa — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:45:40 GMT

Manpower are offering the princely sum of £7.56 for a fully qualified Komatsu PC750 operator that wants to work in a quarry in sunny Cumbria!

When i stop laughing i'll have a serious comment!

Laing O'Rourke / SGB fine for T5 death

Fred20 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:10:54 GMT

Thought it quite interesting that SGB got rapped with a hefty fine (35k), even though the faulty TSAs (Threaded Shoring Adaptors) had come from another manufacturer.

Obviously its SGB's duty as supplier to have proper QA on everything it supplies, but should the manufacturer get away scott-free in a case like this?

Full story: Laing O'Rourke and SGB hit with T5 death fine

Am I the only one?

Supadoopa — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:54:57 GMT

I'm asking because i'm being invaded by Vikings on another thread!

Is anyone else on here just a normal machine driver that doesn't own a machine and works for someone else?

The Nuclear Boom?

Supadoopa — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:55:18 GMT

I just found this headline from some cowboy outfit!

Contractors urge early involvement on nuclear

The story claims a £40 billion bill for the taxpayer!

Forgive me but i'm a bugger for having a selective photographic memory!

If i see something and it lights my fire I can remember it word for word!

And I am sure as sh-t I can Remember reading about a French firm that offered to build 200 mini Nuclear power stations in the UK for free!

Any of you guys want to expand on this?

I am a bit confused!

How to upload photos / insert photos into forums

Will Mann — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:39:49 GMT

I appreciate it’s not obvious how to upload photos on here, or insert photos into forum posts. So I thought I’d draw up this guide.

Note: You can only upload photos of 4MB maximum, but ideally you should not be uploading anything above 500KB.

1. Login, then go to ‘Photos’ (top navigation).
2. Click on ‘Upload a photo’ (right hand menu, under ‘Shortcuts’).
3. Select a photo gallery to add a photo to. You can either upload in one of the shared galleries listed, or pick your own gallery (which will be your own username).
4. Click on ‘Publish new photo’ (left hand menu, under ‘Common Tasks’).
5. Click on grey ‘Upload photo’ button.
6. Click on grey ‘Browse…’ button and locate file on your computer.
7. Name your photo in the ‘Friendly name/description’ field.
8. Click ‘Upload’.
9. Add a ‘Description’ (bottom field) if you feel the photo needs one.
10. Click ‘Save’ (bottom right, you may have to scroll down screen).
11. The next screen will show all the photos recently uploaded to this gallery, and your photo should be at the top. Click ‘View’ (right hand side) to see how it looks in the gallery.
12. To link to this photo from the forum, copy the URL of the photo, then go to a forum post, and click on the ‘Insert/Edit Image’ icon at the point you want the photo to appear. Then paste in the URL and click ‘Insert’.

Housing market - recovering or not?

Will Mann — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:45:40 GMT

How do people feel about the state of the housing market?

Is the recovery of recent months going to continue? Lots of house builders are raising money to buy land and restarting mothballed projects.

But on the other hand, the 'experts' seem to think we're heading for another drop next year...

Incompetent NVQ Plant Assessors-a cause for concern.

Sustainer — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:16:57 GMT

I recently raised a concern with the "Construction Awards Alliance", (CAA), the CITB administered body, overseeing plant NVQs regarding the competence of many of its assessors. I am assured by the CAA that everything is all sweetness and light.

However... during 2008 when the industry and the Learning Skills Council, LSC, were flush with cash it prompted many training providers/employers, and in particular, colleges, to nominate candidates for NVQ assessor status in a particular category of plant.

The present CAA system allows the training provider/college to nominate assessors from within their own workforce based on a flimsy CV and a tenuous link with competence. The tenuous link on many occasions has been a half day CPCS test on say, a site dumper. The CAA quality assurance, though well meaning and best intentioned is devoid of occupational competence in a plant discipline having probably been recruited from a totally different working environment, not necessarily from within construction !!

At a CPCS road show last week a member of the audience gave a graphic example of how the current CAA system has allowed "incompetent" assessors to gauge plant operator competence on construction equipment. This particular individual arrived on site to undertake an NVQ assessment on a candidate operating a, "concrete pump."

He openly admitted that he had no idea what a "concrete pump" looked like and had to be shown the item and how it worked ! When the taxpayer has coughed up, £millions, through the LSC for in excess of 25,000 plant operator NVQs in the last 18 months one wonders about the audit trail that awarding bodies are taking regarding quality checks?

Many of us are convinced that he much advertised saga with, MP's expenses would pale into insignificance if the National Audit Office, NAO, had a close look at how some plant operator NVQs were actually achieved. Sadly it becomes abundantly clear that the greater emphasis by many has been the acquisition of funding at the expense of the National Occupational Standards, NOS, for plant operators.

NPORS "just as good" as CPCS cards?

oB4IL3Yo — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:32:57 GMT

I have a ticket for a 180 tipping dumper and a 360 digger upto below 5t. I got this through NPORS because i was advised they are "just as good" the CPCS cards. Now every job i look for, they are looking for CPCS and never heard of NPORS.

Can someone please tell me how relevent these NPORS tickets are to help me find a plant operators job in the uk. Is there anyone i can contact who recognises these tickets?

Or are thee tickets just a gimmick?

To all Guests!

Supadoopa — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:41:37 GMT

Stop being Guests!

Join the club and blow your nuts out!

YOUR INDUSTRY NEEDS YOU!

Excavators over 12t - which are your favourites?

Will Mann — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:48:43 GMT

This month in Plant Managers' Journal, we take a look at the market for excavators over 12t. It would be great to hear from ConstructionSpace members about your experiences using these machines, and which ones you prefer using.

There haven't been many new excavators launched in the 'over 12t category', but here are a few of the new and popular models we looked at:

Doosan. All excavators above 14t updated with new 7-inch monitor and reversing camera in cab. New 14t DX140R offers reduced tailswing radius of 1.48m, but with maximum digging depth of 6.15m. Plans a larger 70t crawler excavator for the Bauma exhibition next year.
JCB. Has launched new JS290 Auto (30t), with smaller dipper and main boom, but less counterweight at rear. Also offers reduced radius on JZ140, JZ235, JZ255, though says conventional 13t-14t excavators are still the most popular.
Volvo. Launched the ECR305CL (34t to 37t) reduced tailswing excavator. Combines boom and dipper from conventional EC290 with undercarriage and tracks from EC330 to provide strong stability.
Komatsu. The PC138US-8 (13.5t) is one of its biggest-selling zero tailswing models.

Let us know what you think of these - and any other excavators over 12t which you've been using.

Construction Plant training programme

Preacherman — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:18:38 GMT

Hi all, been while since i posted but would like some feedback from you all out there on a scheme that i am setting up with a major college.

As some of you will have seen in the past i have shown my frustration with how i see plant training and how it has been and still is deliverd, this led me to question my position as a trainer. I have now calmed down and decided that i will not give up but try even harder to make things right.

I plan over the next few months to roll out a training program for new operators, this would consist of with the aid of my college partner placing new entrants into companies and taking them through the full Plant NVQ in stages, so all the current criteria that is in a plant NVQ would be broken down into a program of training and projects which is basically how i feel it should be done . They would be mentored by a trainer and also from within the company assigned a buddy operator to give them gudance at work.

The company would employ the new entrant and all training input from college would be fully funded. We envisage the programm to last between 12-18 months in total.

We hope to be able to provide the sort of training that the industry requires and not just a quick fix 10 day course. The main difference with this programm is that we will be working with the company so the operative will be moulded and developed just how that company wants him.

The operative will learn all the things that we know they should be learning now but don't.

Now i know some of you will be saying what about all the good operators that are on the dole and i take that point, but we need to start planning for the future and we are not getting the young blood into the plant industry we need.

This program is still at a very early stage but i just wanted some views on it and what you think of it.

Road Rail Crane Excavator, Training

johnny — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:24:47 GMT

Hi guys

Can anyone tell me where I can do the training for Road Rail Crane Excavator? And how much would cost?

I have a CPCS blue card for 360 Excavator tracked and wheeled and PTS card.

Thanks.

My number is 07846775190.

Tories to ban HSE inspectors from construction sites?

Fred20 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:25:38 GMT

I'm all for cutting red tape, but I'm not sure about allowing externally-audited safety inspections - how can you be sure the inspections will be suitably rigorous?

Tories plan to bar HSE from sites

General chat area?

Dr Dave — Sat, 02 May 2009 06:32:10 GMT

One for Janie I think.......but what about an area where we can discuss day to day things, something along the lines of General Chat? Create a little more of a community feel here where we can talk about other things in our lives apart from building/contruction etc? What does everyone else think?

Just a thought to perhaps liven the forums up a little :)

Legal requirements for plant on a public highway?

Supadoopa — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:29:46 GMT

I have often pondered this while driving 20ton ducks on the road!

After hearing a story of two moxy drivers who were hammered by the courts for not having a HGV licence even though they had CPCS Licence.

Does anyone know the legal requirements of using heavy plant on a public highway and what are the requirements of the operator?