Health and Safety

A new technical service has been launched that could detect crumbling concrete in crisis-hit public buildings and make them safe for use. Engineering and demolition contractor Keltbray has written to the government offering its specialist testing service in response to fears posed by historic use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete…

A funding row has broken out over reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in Scottish public buildings, after analysis revealed schools in half of all council areas are affected. So far, the potentially dangerous concrete has been found in 40 Scottish schools, including eight in Edinburgh, seven in Aberdeen, two in…

MPs have criticised the Department for Education (DfE) over delays to the provision of mobile classrooms for schools affected by RAAC. Yesterday (11 September) the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) grilled two senior civil servants over the government's response to safety concerns at over 100 schools due to the presence of…

An industrial and agricultural building specialist has been fined after a worker was put into intensive care after falling 10 metres through a roof. CK Steelwork & Cladding Ltd was carrying out work on the roof of a building on the Heathlands Industrial Estate in Carlisle, Cumbria, in March 2022,…

The devolved Scottish government announced on Wednesday (6 September) that it will introduce a Cladding Remediation Bill as part of its 2023/24 legislative programme. The bill would give Scottish ministers “new powers to remediate buildings with unsafe cladding that present a risk to life”, the government announced in a statement.…

Hospitals with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) have been told to prepare to evacuate, while the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has said it is providing urgent advice to government. More than a hundred schools have already been told to stop using buildings with the lightweight concrete due to concerns it…

Collapse-prone reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) is more likely to fail if the structure has been mistreated or overloaded, according to a leading researcher. Hundreds of schools have been forced to vacate buildings with the lightweight concrete, following updated guidance from the Department for Education. More than 20 schools are…

An MP has suggested that issues around the Didcot Power Station collapse have been “kicked into the long grass” as the investigation into the incident drags on. On 23 February 2016, the boiler house at the decommissioned Oxfordshire facility collapsed, with Michael Collings, 53, found dead shortly afterwards. The bodies…

The worker who died while working on Everton Football Club’s new stadium was a ventilation engineer who was crushed between a scissor ladder and a beam, according to reports. The Liverpool Echo reported that the inquest into the death of 26-year-old Michael Jones (pictured) opened at Liverpool Coroners Court on…

The Department for Education (DfE) has told 104 schools to immediately vacate buildings containing potentially dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). The latest advice means some schools may now have to carry out online teaching at the start of term, and is a significant escalation on earlier reports that the…