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SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014
access
INTERNATIONAL
INBRIEF
■
International scaffold distributor
AA International Trading (AAIT) has
opened a facility inMiami to serve
NorthAmerican customers. The
Florida-based company has been
distributing scaffolding to South
America since 2010, but due to
increased activity inNorthAmerican
construction and the oil & energy
industries, the company decided
to begin distributing its system
scaffold products to scaffold rental
organisations acrossNorthAmerica.
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TheConstruction Industry
TrainingBoard (CITB), working
with theUK’sNational Access
&ScaffoldingConfederation
(NASC) andConstruction Industry
Scaffolders RecordScheme (CISRS),
has relaunched its level 2 diploma
for scaffolding apprentices, and
began to offer the newDiploma
inScaffolding from 1September,
2014. Themain focus has been to
bring the diploma in linewith the
launch of theNASC’s newBest
PracticeGuidelines for Tube and
FittingScaffolding (TG20:13).
Youngman to be
acquired byWerner
SCAFFOLDING INTERNATIONAL
W
ernerAccess Products
UKHolding is set to
acquire 100%of the
shareholdingofYoungmanGroup.
The acquisitionwill combine
Youngman’s tower and low level
access productswithUS-based
WernerCo’sUK ladder business,
Abru, and is subject to clearance
from theUKCompetition and
MarketsAuthority. The deal is
expected to complete at the endof
October, saidWernerCo.
“This acquisition continues
Werner’s expansion in the
world-wide ladder and access
productsmarket,”saidWilliam
Allen,Werner chairman. “The
Youngman andBoSSbrands
arewell recognised tower and
trade access product brands in
Doka buys in Australia
NASCSCAFFOLD
CHECKLIST
F
alsework and formwork
manufacturerDoka has
expanded inAustraliawith
a deal to acquire local construction
companyGrocon.
Doka acquired the formwork
patent forLubeca Jumpform
automatic climbing formwork
alongwith employees and a
project portfolio fromGrocon.
Doka said it planned touse the
deal to establish a new subsidiary
calledLubecaPtyLtd,withoffices
TheNASC haswelcomed the
publication of the recently amended
UK-basedHSE Scaffold Checklist.
The document is intended to
clarifywhen scaffold design
is required, and the level of
training and competencewhich
those erecting, inspecting and
supervising the erection, alteration
and dismantling of scaffolding are
expected to have.
Information and advice contained
within the revised document
relates to all types of scaffolding
structures. All key areas have
been covered, including planning,
client/user responsibilities,
design information requirements,
competence and supervision of
operatives, inspection of scaffold
structures, and the requirement for
adequate fall preventionmeasures.
NASC president, KevinWard said,
“The HSE should be applauded for
producing an excellent updated
version of the HSE Scaffold
Checklist. I think thiswill be a very
useful and informative document
for scaffolding contractors, users
of scaffolding and persons affected
by scaffolding operations. It is a job
reallywell done.”
inMelbourne inVictoria state.
ADoka spokesman said
LubecaPtyLtdwouldbe a
rental-only business offering
Lubeca Jumpform to construction
companies for concretingwork in
emergingmarkets.
Austria-headquarteredDoka
said theGrocon acquisition and
establishment of theAustralian
subsidiarywould also allow it
todevelop a stronger presence
not only inAustralia,but also in
theMiddleEast andEastAsia,
includingSingapore,Malaysia and
India.
JohannStrunz,DokaCEO in
charge of overseasmarkets, said
bothDoka andLubeca benefitted
from this integration.“Our
diversity offers customers a broad
range of formwork systems and
ideal solutions for any customer
requirement and structure.
This acquisition is a valuable
complement,”he added.
AI
theUnitedKingdom andfitwell
withWerner’s existingUK ladder
business.
MrAllen added,“We’re
confident that the deal will benefit
the industry by allowingus to
offer a single integratedportfolio
that combines our complementary
strengths –Youngman’s focus on
towers andother trade products
andWerner’s focus on ladders and
otherDIY access products.”
AI
Powering up
X
ervonPalmers has used
system scaffolding to
provide access for the bi-
annual overhaul of the interior of
a huge boiler atAberthawPower
Station, inSouthWales,UK.
Working closelywith client
DoosanBabcock and its customer
RWE,up to 47XervonPalmers
operatives have constructed a 25
x 13m, 19-lift Layher System
Scaffoldwithin the enormous
coal-fired boiler at the power
station, locatednearCardiff on
theNorth bank of theBristol
Channel.
The decision to useLayher
SystemScaffolding in preference
to traditional tube&fitting
scaffoldingwasmade to improve
the performance and efficiency of
the scaffolding to suit the large,
but confined spacewithin the
power station boiler and the time
constraints of the contract.
A key factor of the Palmers
job atAberthawwas to help
reduce the amount of time the
boiler was offline.The boiler
helps the power station generate
1555MW of electricity to the
national grid, enough for three
millionhomes.
TheAberthaw contractmeant
operativeswereworking inhot,
dusty andnoisy conditions and
had limited storage facilities for
the significant amount ofmanual
handling that was required
to get theLayher equipment
initially through two small (48 x
18 inch) holes to erect the first
three scaffold levels. Aswork
progressedmaterialswere passed
through larger doorway-sized
holes above levels three to 19.
“As a company,we are starting
to see a rise indemand for system
scaffolding jobs now – even in
traditional tube andfitting areas,
likeEngland.System is the
scaffold of choice inEurope and
very popular inScotland too, so
it’s interesting to see it taking a
more prevalent role inEngland
now,”commented IanMcFarlane,
director at XervonPalmers.
Palmers’parent company
XervonGmbH based in
Germany is one of the biggest
scaffold companies inEurope.
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