Piling Rig Accident
Two construction companies have been fined for an accident that occurred in December 2007 on Tower Street in Hull. On the busy street in rush hour, a piling rig being used for the construction of a hotel fell over and rolled into the middle of the road.
Amazingly, no one was killed or even injured in the event, but both companies, who pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety Work Act, have been fined. The main contractor, Multibuild, who provided the stone platform on which the piling rig worked, have been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £18,687 in costs. Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering Ltd, who were sub-contractor, responsible for carrying out the work, have been fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £17,676 in costs.
Dave Redman, the HSE Inspector, has said that, “It is every company’s responsibility to ensure that employees and members of the public are not exposed to danger from heavy construction machinery. There is extensive guidance governing safe working in this sector, and we hope today’s prosecution serves to remind people of their duties so that we don’t witness an incident of this kind again.”
Piling Work Has Begun For the 2012 Olympics
When the news broke that London had succeed in its bid for the 2012 Olympics, mass hysteria hit the capital. However, when the dust began to settle, our attention turned to the implications of taking on such a huge responsibility and how the UK’s construction industry would cope – anyone remember the Millennium Dome debacle?!
However, recent pictures released by The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) confirm that from piling to underpinning the construction of the 2012 Olympic Village is well underway.
Piling work has begun
The village will hold the ‘big five’ main areas of the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Olympic Village, VeloPark and the International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre (IBC/MPC).
While initial plans for the Olympic village have been scaled down as a consequence of the recession, it will still be a sizeable development. Recent images reveal there will be space for nearly 20,000 beds, housed in eleven residential areas which will be converted into houses eventually. There are also plans for over 10 ha of recreational space, again which will be used productively after the games.
Matthew James, who worked at the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester 2003 comments: “The Athlete’s Village was such an important part of the games in 2003. The sophistication of that construction and the success of the development process, really set the tone for the whole event.”
Currently, the Olympic Village is providing employment for just over one thousand workers , however, this figure is expected to increase to just over four thousand as the games approach. Piling work has begun on all the major blocks and work on the Aquatics Centre is scheduled to start next month.