Following on from the earlier post, here is the latest update on the latest JCB job losses:
JCB GMB Works Convenor Gordon Richardson said: “The GMB at JCB UK are unfortunately informing their membership of a further wave of redundancies announced by the company today. Projected orders for the beginning of the year have not materialised and another 684 employees, including many of our members, are to lose their jobs. While we are looking at all options to challenge this proposed figure, the situation is looking extremely dire. The GMB will continue to support its membership and fight to reduce these numbers wherever possible. We are continuing to work a 34 hour week which means more than 300 of our members’ jobs remain protected. Whilst these are unprecedented times for our membership, the Joint Shop Stewards Committee for JCB UK remains extremely proud of this sacrifice and the professional attitude of all those affected. ”
JCB today announced a further 684 redundancies in the UK primarily as a result of the lack of credit available from banks to fund machine purchases and continuing low confidence. Production in the UK in the first three months of 2009 will be around 75 per cent lower than at the same time last year and an anticipated upturn in the second quarter now shows no sign of materialising.
JCB Chief Executive Matthew Taylor said: “Back in November we forecast a moderate second quarter recovery in 2009 based on the fact that Governments around the world had pumped a huge amount of money into recapitalising financial institutions and had committed to stimulus packages which included significant spending on public construction projects.
“Two months later, despite the recapitalisation, customers are still struggling to buy machines because of a lack of available credit. And with Government-funded construction projects not moving forward quickly enough, this means the anticipated second quarter recovery simply won’t happen.
“The ongoing reluctance of the banks to provide credit is aggravating an economic downturn which is now becoming much steeper than we could have ever envisaged. This unprecedented situation needs to be addressed with some urgency so that confidence and stability can return; otherwise irreparable damage will be caused to the UK’s manufacturing industry.”
JCB’s Staffordshire plants affected by the redundancies are: the World HQ, Rocester; JCB Heavy Products, Uttoxeter; JCB Compact Products, JCB Earthmovers and JCB Cecilly Mills Operations, Cheadle and JCB Cab Systems, Rugeley. JCB Transmissions,Wrexham and JCB Power Systems, Derbyshire are also affected.
In October GMB members voted for a shorter, 34-hour working week, a move which continues to protect a further 332 shopfloor jobs. Last week – when there was no production at JCB – the company undertook its biggest-ever training initiative in its history, with more than 2,000 employees completing a programme which will result in achievement of NVQ and City and Guilds qualifications.
The latest job losses affect 593 shopfloor and 91 staff positions and are in addition to 1,000 redundancies announced since July. JCB employs around 7,900 globally, with around 4,800 in the UK. JCB has more than 4,300 employees in Staffordshire.
David JonesCDM2007.org, developer of the e-learning portal dedicated to CDM training, has warned UK construction and demolition companies that unless they ensure that their employees are fully and appropriately trained, with acceptable proof of competence, they could now risk a prison sentence in the event of a health and safety breach.
The warning comes as the new Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2009 comes into full force on the 16th January. With amendments to Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, magistrates will now have a new remit on sentencing for breaches of health and safety law and regulation which will enable them to impose fines of up to £20,000 and, if they wish, sentence convicted offenders to up to 2 years in prison.
“The new law adds a different dimension to the existing laws around work-related injury and fatality,” says David Jones, Marketing Director at CDM2007.org. “Where a subsequent investigation and eventual prosecution proves that there has been a breach of duty that could have been avoidable, individuals can no longer hide behind the corporation. Staff at all levels need to fully understand their role, their responsibilities and their duty of care to other people. Accidents will happen even in the most carefully controlled environments, but proof of competency will protect individuals should a case come to court.”
Photo by Nik SmaleStanding beside the City of Manchester Satdium at 58 metres in height and leaning at a more acute angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the B of the Bang sculpture was commissioned at a cost of almost £1.5 million to mark the 2002 Commonwealth Games and beginning takes its name from a quotation from former sprinter Linford Christie in which he said that he started his races not merely at the ‘bang’ of the starting pistol, but at ‘The B of the Bang’.
But just seven years on and what should have been a major public landmark is now derided by many locals who have nicknamed the sculpture “Kerplunk” after the 1970s children’s toy. And with the tips of several of its hollow steel spikes now having fallen off, local demolition companies are starting to circle, taking an active interest in the removal of the piece, and in the recycling of the 165 tonnes of steel it comprises.
Talk of demolition came after Manchester City Council won £1.7m in damages from the designers and engineers involved in the project. One company, Denton-based Windmill Demolition, has offered to demolish the structure free-of-charge and to recycle the steel at its own facility. This offer was declined by regeneration company New East Manchester, which conceived the sculpture.
A more considered approach came from John Freeley, managing director of local demolition specialist J. Freeley Ltd who estimates that the dismantling could take up to four weeks and cost £150,000. Excavating the foundations would cost an additional £50,000.
“The nature of the concrete foundations would need to be investigated in detail before giving a time estimate,” he said. “Demolition and dismantling specialists would have to work closely with structural engineers who would jointly inspect the structure and look in detail at the original construction drawings to gain an understanding of the design and balance of the structure, as this will dictate the dismantling methods that will need to be used.
“Also, it’s not clear whether it is just the structure itself which needs to be removed or whether the concrete foundations also will need to be excavated.”
To take the weight and offset the 30 degree angle of the sculture’s upperstructure, those foundations contain around 1,000 tonnes of concrete and include a 400 m2 reinforced concrete slab. The foundations extend to a depth of 20 metres.
“The structure itself will have to be painstakingly dismantled and the balance of the structure will have to be maintained to prevent it from becoming unstable,” Freeley concludes. “Demolition operatives will liaise with the highways authorities to make sure surrounding roads are closed during the dismantling.”
The UK’s National Demolition Training Group has announced the date for its annual general meeting. The meeting will take place at the Novotel in London’s Docklands on 5 February 2009.
Full details are available from training co-ordinator Sophie Francis on Tel: 01784 456799 or via email: ndtg@demolition-nfdc.com
West Mindlands-based C&D Consultancy has announced a new range of highly-targeted training courses for the coming weeks and months including RPE (Respiratory Protective Equipment) Regulations & Employer Responsibilities (Fit Testing) PART 1 and a three-day course of Health and Safety supervision.
Full details of the new range of courses can be found here.
The controlled demolition of three disused 80 metre tall reinforced concrete chimneys at Coolkeeragh Power Station Northern Ireland has been successfully achieved by Churchill Steeplejacks (UK) Ltd over a nine month period. On this particular project, explosives could not be used to fell the chimneys due to a number of factors including a nearby under ground culvert providing water to the new adjacent power station and a railway line located within 15 metres of the chimney bases.
The full story of the contract can be found here but, perhaps better still, Churchill have produced a pair of excellent videos that capture the action.
This is when you just KNOW that you need to get a hobby. Through my work on Demolition News and Demolition & Dismantling and my links with the National Federation of Demolition Contractors and European Demolition Association, I spend a large part of my working week working within and alongside the demolition industry.
Every once in a while, I like to “blow off a little steam” by going to see a band or two and that’s precisely what I have planned for 14 January.
However, by some strange quirk of fate, my well-earned night out is going to have a distinctly working flavour. I am going to the last-ever gig at London’s world-famous Astoria Theatre which is closing to make way for a new Crossrail system.
And what have they called this final gig…? Click here for the answer.
The New York Times reports that the former purchasing agent for the subcontractor hired to dismantle the former Deutsche Bank building, which was damaged in the Sept. 11 attack in Lower Manhattan, has been charged with stealing more than $1 million by filing false invoices and using the money for expensive vacations and luxury cars, the authorities said on Tuesday.
