The summer holidays – a time when, like many others, people working in construction often disappear for a while (on their holidays or for family visits). But, did you know that, in the UK and for various reasons, more than half of people don’t take their full holiday entitlement? The problem, however, is that such efforts can be counter-productive as taking a break actually offers all kinds of benefits, both to the individual and the companies they work for. This week’s blog outlines the key points.
While the generally drier weather of summer makes it one of the best times for completing construction works, every year the season also brings some additional challenges, for instance around maintaining the quality of products, the reduced availability of workers and specific heat-related safety risks. Of course, this year there are additional woes related to the pandemic and Brexit but in this week’s blog, we’re focusing on four areas of concern that sites face during a typical summer and included some guidance about what you can do to avoid or overcome those challenges.
Last week we laid on a thank you BBQ as we bid farewell to most of the tradespeople who have been working at our Kingham Way site in Luton which is nearing completion. While Sheriff’s internal teams took on the management, brickwork and roofing works at this site, Kingham Way has only come this far with the support of all kinds of specialist tradespeople – carpenters, plumbers, plasterers/ dry liners, electricians, painters and decorators, tilers and more. Read this week’s blog for more about the project and who was involved.
So ‘Freedom Day’ happened this Monday 19th July – the day when the remaining COVID-related legal restrictions like social distancing and mask-wearing were lifted in England. However, while there were crowds of jubilant party-goers queuing outside the nation’s nightclubs at Midnight, others (including many businesses) are taking a more cautious approach to the relaxations. So, what about construction? Read this week’s blog to find out more about what seems to be a clash between the government’s and industry leaders’ viewpoints as well as what we at Sheriff would advise.