Avoiding Close Working Over the last few weeks, restrictions relating to the coronavirus lockdown in England have begun to ease – with pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, museums, playgrounds and others being on the latest list of places which are now allowed to open up. But, while many of us were probably happy to see a return…
A reminder of when and how to travel safely to work As we’ve previously mentioned, many construction sites have temporarily closed but some are continuing to operate under the strict guidelines created by the Construction Leadership Council in line with government advice on COVID-19. All of the major contractors we work with have implemented these….
COVID-19 stories are dominating every aspect of our daily news, making it hard to filter out the information that might be the most relevant to you personally or professionally. With that in mind here’s a few construction-related headlines you might have missed recently: Many UK housebuilders have furloughed high percentages (up to 80%) of their…
The UK is in the middle of a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19 but since that announcement was made last night there has been much confusion about what construction workers (who cannot realistically carry out their work from home) should do. When questioned about this earlier today, Cabinet Minister, Michael Gove said:…
The most recent ONS* report on the construction sector (for 2018) describes the numbers of people employed by the sector and how things vary between different regions in the UK (with the South East and London topping the list for construction employment). What it doesn’t include is any mention of the male to female ratio…
Accidents or injuries on site are best prevented by adopting positive behaviours and attitudes which keep everyone safe – good communication, avoiding making assumptions and being cooperative with colleagues for instance. That all sounds pretty obvious, however in practise things can easily go wrong when workers lapse into bad practices. Last week, we took a…
The physical and mental health of our team is always important to us. That’s why, since World Mental Health day last year, we’ve occasionally used this blog to publish a series of quick tips and advice around mental health and wellbeing. By no means are we experts in this field, so we’ve taken inspiration from…
Uncertainties over Brexit are undoubtedly causing major issues for British businesses (particularly in terms of how and when they can move forwards with investment-driven projects). However, there is another pressing issue that, right now, is hugely problematic for companies – late payments. Just take a look at the following statistics: The UK’s late payment problem…
A couple of weeks ago, we published the first in a new series of Sheriff Construction blogs which focus on mental health and associated issues. Continuing the theme, this week we’re talking about stress. Stress is defined by the HSE as ‘The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demands placed…
Guy Fawkes Night – that one day of the year when we all enjoy watching the night sky light up and sizzle in memory of an event that narrowly avoided seeing the Houses of Parliament go up in flames! While not wanting to spoil anyone’s fun later this evening, fire prevention and safety is a…