A company and its director have been company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £18,783.6 and sentenced 20 weeks, suspended for 12 months after workers were exposed to asbestos and its potential harmful effects. Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited Eye Track Limited’s site in Stretford, Manchester, and found an uncontrolled spread of asbestos containing materials around the premises. HSE has recently updated its webpages on asbestos safety and in 2023 launched an awareness campaign, Asbestos and You, which provides tradespeople with information about h ..read more

A rogue trader has been handed a suspended prison sentence after carrying out illegal gas work on a park home in Gloucestershire. Christian Davis who had been previously removed from the Gas register falsely claimed he was Gas Safe Registered but had been removed due to concerns about the standard of his work and his competency . Trading as BS1 Plumbing and Heating, the 45-year-old carried out illegal work as part of the renovation of a mobile park home in Hallen between June and July 2020. Some of that work included the installation of pipework, a boiler and gas hob. The illegal work resulted ..read more

A worker has been saved from a trench on a construction site next to the Blackwall Tunnel approach the man was trapped up to his chest. Specially-trained fire officers battled for six hours to save the man from the trench which collapsed on a construction site next to the Blackwall Tunnel approach on Tuesday. The trench which was around twelve meters long and four meters deep collapsed trapping the worker up to his chest in sand and clay on the site at Bramshot Avenue in Charlton, where a developer has permission to build nine flats. The trench where firefighters extracted worker credit LFB Th ..read more

Erith Plant Services Limited in Kent has been fined £175,000 following the death of an 24 year old employee after a tragic accident. Liam McArdle, from Gravesend, was fatally crushed by an excavator grab attachment while working for Erith Plant Services Limited on 21 September 2021, the company was fined £175,000 and ordered to pay £37,804 in costs. A demolition grab, attached to an excavator, fell onto the 24-year-old while it was loaded onto a lorry at Erith Plant Services Limited’s workshop at Eastern Quarry on Watling Steet, Swanscombe. Liam’s dad says the pain since losing his son has bee ..read more

UK construction companies reported a bounce back from the six months of decline which indicated a renewed increase in total industry activity during March. Although the report showed that orders expanded at the fastest pace since May 2023 but construction companies remained cautious about staff hiring, with employment numbers falling for the third month running in March echoing what nationaltradesemen.co.uk has been hearing within the trades. Larger projects and civil engineering lead the way in March, as output levels increased at a marginal pace. Panel members cited increased work on infrast ..read more

Looking to buy a new plunge saw in 2024 read this definitive guide to three of the best budget plunge saws which are reviewed by myself on weight, size, versatility, rails, cost battery power and many other important factors when purchasing a rail saw without further ado lets begin. I am slightly bias on the first plunge saw which is Bosch Professional BITURBO GKT 18V-52 GC Cordless Plunge Circular Saw this is a neat and small battery powered plunge saw with equivalent to that of a 1620 W corded plunge saw with a compact design that lets you cut 10mm up to a wall or skirting boards ideal for t ..read more

Hydrogen is here with the world’s first digger, powered by a hydrogen combustion engine, will be on building sites and roads following recent government approval, helping to decarbonise the UK’s construction industry. In a world first the UK government has given special dispensation, under a vehicle special order, that allows JCB, the British construction equipment manufacturer, to test and use its world-first hydrogen-powered backhoe loader on UK roads. The vehicle special order given by the Transport Secretary allows JCB to test its new hydrogen-powered machine on the public highway. This ba ..read more

Its seems that construction wages for the self employed may be turning the corner after a slow end to 2023 and beginning of 2024, as many self employed have felt the pinch as interest rate rises have seen many jobs postponed. The traditional after Christmas lull shows that the December peak of £1,044 then dipped in January/ February shows average earnings for self-employed tradespeople increased to £1,017 per week during February this followed the usual poor month of January when earnings dipped due to bad weather and some sites being slow to reopen after Christmas. Labour rates on building si ..read more

An engineering and services company has been fined following the death of a subcontractor working at a hospital in Scotland. Alistair Hutton was working on the Baird Family Hospital in Aberdeen on 18 January 2023  for NG Bailey Limited when lost his life. He had been navigating a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) along an unfinished corridor at the hospital when his head struck a metal lintel. Mr Hutton, who lived in Forfar, immediately lost consciousness, and died at the scene shortly thereafter. The 51-year-old was pronounced dead less than an hour after the incident. A Health and S ..read more

A demolition and asbestos removal company from Hertfordshire has been fined after an employee was crushed to death while only in his first few months of work. James Rourke was hit by an excavator and lost his life after being struck at Sarazen Gardens, Brampton on 18 November 2019. James and his family had celebrated his sister Katie’s 21st birthday the weekend before the fatal incident his family were devastated by the accident as he had only just left university. The 22-year-old site engineer had been attaching ‘warning’ work signs to fencing around the site when he was hit by the vehicle. J ..read more