News in Brief – April 2006

In conjunction with BCSA’s Centenary, the “Financial Times” has published its first Special Report on Steel Construction. (see: http://news.ft.com/reports/steelconstruction2006) Over 130,000 copies of the report were printed and included in the newspaper on 8 March 2006.

The Department of Trade and Industry has invited some 150 construction industry leaders to debate its analysis of consultation responses and proposals for changes to the Construction Act. DTI’s detailed proposals, primarily regarding payment and safe guards against insolvency, are currently being prepared. .

MSW(UK) Ltd has won the British Safety Council’s international safety award for the tenth year running. As well as low accident rates, winners must have good safety policies and a solid com-mitment to health and safety at the highest board level.

BCSA, in conjunction with the Metals Forum, is holding a Health and Safety Seminar & Exhibition for members on Thursday 6 April at the National Metalforming Centre, West Bromwich.

The Health and Safety Executive has announced that the revised Construction (Design and Management) Regulations will be implemented in April 2007. The Regulations will revise and bring together provisions in the existing CDM Regulations 1994 and the Construction (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 into a single regulatory package.

Leading structural designers have called for the Institution of Civil Engineers to run bridge design competitions instead of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). They say RIBA run competitions consistently produce solutions which fail to give value for money and concentrate on extreme designs to gain attention.