17 minute read
Gordon Best, MPANI
FROM THE DESK OF: GORDON BEST, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MPANI
KEEPING YOU Gordon Best, MPANI INFORMED IN CHALLENGING TIMES
If you are reading this message for the first time before Christmas, can I wish you and your family a very happy, healthy and safe holiday period. Alternatively, if you are reading it for the first time in 2023, I do trust you have had an enjoyable Christmas period and that this coming year brings you health, happiness and success. It’s also an appropriate time to look back to remember our absent friends and family.
The new 2022/23 Journal was launched on Tuesday 22nd November by DfI Permanent Secretary, Julie Harrison. The launch photo was taken at the developing Belfast Transport Hub currently being constructed at Weavers Cross, the bulk of construction materials for the project’s construction is being supplied by MPANI members. As the strap line states ‘WE ARE ESSENTIAL! REALISE IT, COMMUNIATE IT’ and we hope that everyone who reads the Journal will have a greater appreciation of the contribution our Industry makes to the local economy and the quality of life of every citizen of Northern Ireland. In terms of the economy the November Ulster Bank PMI report indicated that inflationary pressures and the wider economic slowdown led to further reductions in output and new orders in the Northern Ireland private sector. There were further signs, however, of inflation softening as both input costs and selling prices rose at the weakest rates in 21 months. As we reach the year end it is clear the UK is in recession as stated in the most recent MPA Economic Briefing. Given what is going on around us in the local, national and global economy and political world it would be very easy to throw the hands up and despair. However, one thing that history does teach us is that there will be better days ahead. One key source of positivity has been the 20 consecutive months of employment growth but this almost ground to a halt in November largely due to falling staffing levels in services and manufacturing. PROJECTS PAUSED
MPANI members continue to report a steady flow of business but concerns are growing for Q1 AND Q2 of 2023. The ongoing difficulties recruiting suitable staff are concerning and signs are this will likely continue into 2023, with firms continuing to suffer from skills shortages, however falling demand will increasingly come to the fore. The continued lack of an Assembly and NI Executive is causing frustration and anger and as one member said to me, “ No Executive and local NI budget are making things difficult,it’s hard to know who is running the country”. Recent reports indicate that across construction in NI, both private and public sector investment in some projects is being paused and this is being mirrored in the manufacturing sector. In terms of the energy crisis, we are currently in the eye of the storm. There is support now for some businesses, but when firms come out of contract next year or when government support steps back, we only need one very prolonged cold snap to create havoc. Energy prices continue to be a concern across all sectors, and firms need certainty about what is ahead. Overall, the local private sector is coming to the end of 2022 in a weakened state, with 2023 likely to be a very challenging year. One silver lining is that inflationary pressures do though seem to be easing, with input costs and output price inflation rising at their lowest rates in 21 months. With energy prices falling back, easing inflation, alongside less supply chain disruption, will be amongst the few positives during 2023.
From left: Duncan McAllister – Translink; Gordon Best – Regional Director MPANI; Julie Harrison – Permanent Secretary, Department for Infratsructure; Paul Brogan – MPANI Chairman; Louise Doyle - Translink
NI PROTOCOL
We certainly need an agreement between the UK and the EU in resolving the outstanding issues around the operation of the NI Protocol. I firmly believe an agreement would be a massive boost to confidence and would see a “super-charging” of the NI Economy. The NI Business Community view is that a “landing zone” is in site and the better mood music between the two sides is a positive development. Those closest to the negotiations all agree however that a 3-4 month window of opportunity up to the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement now exists. This will hopefully focus minds! MPANI sub committees have once again been working hard through these challenging times on our Members and wider industry behalf.
FROM LEFT Gerald Lawlor, Quarry Manager, Breedon Temple Quarry, Colin Mew, Mike Kelly, Health and Safety Manager Breedon.
HEALTH & SAFETY
I recently had the pleasure of hosting Colin Mew, recently appointed MPA Special Advisor on Health and Safety, on a number of visits to member sites. Colin, who was previously HSE Principal Inspector, whose role included Chief Inspector of Quarries, joined MPA in a health & safety advisory role, focussing on helping to deliver MPA’s ‘Vision Zero’ strategy by 2025. Thanks to Paul Brogan Chairman of MPANI and CEO McQuillan Companies and Craig Chisholm, McQuillan Companies and Chairman of the MPANI Health and Safety Committee for facilitating the visit to Edentrillick Quarry and our discussion about the H&S issues that face MPANI member companies in Northern Ireland. This was followed by visits to Northstone (NI) Limited Craiganlet Quarry, facilitated by Stephen Horner, and Breedons Temple Quarry. Colin was impressed on how MPANI Members are tackling the Fatal 6 and other risks including exposure to respirable crystalline silica, RCS. NEW PUBLICATIONS
New ‘Fatal 6’ Work at Height resources have been launched by the MPA’s Work at Height Working Group. The handbook has been produced to outline how the potential hazards associated with work at height activities can be either eliminated or mitigated. Based on the hierarchy of control, the handbook provides ‘clear, simple and smart’ guidance for those managing Work at Height. A new “Working at Height Safely - Employee Guide” has been published by MPA. This clear, simple, smart booklet provides advice for employees on how they can avoid danger and keep themselves and their colleagues safe by applying the hierarchy of control for all work at height activities. Employers and Managers can download a copy of the HSENI Talking Toolkit booklet – it is a great resource and will help you hold initial conversations with your staff to help prevent work-related stress. Also you can download the HSENI mental health wellbeing guide which has lots of info and advice on addressing it and creating a positive environment for staff As ever I would strongly recommend you use the excellent Safequarry website that remains a vital source of information and
resources https://www.safequarry.com/ WORKPLACE TRANSPORT
The workplace transport initiative is currently ongoing for both the quarry and waste sector. The target is to complete 25 workplace transport inspections for each sector. To date 20 quarry workplace transport inspections have been completed. The inspection proforma being used by HSENI Inspectors had been shared with industry prior to the inspections commencing and this approach has received positive feedback from those quarry operators visited. During the HSENI visits it was observed that many of the quarry operators had completed an internal workplace transport inspection of their operation using the inspection proforma issued by HSENI and introduced appropriate risk control measures before any inspection by HSENI. Once the initiative for 2022-23 is completed it is planned to analyse the statistics and HSENI will share this information with MPANI. It is planned to repeat this initiative in 2023-24. Three new MPA guidance papers on climate change mitigation and adaptation have now been published under the issues section of the MPA website, Issues (mineralproducts. org). While for MPANI members NI is some distance behind GB, no doubt this guidance will be of benefit as DAERA and other local Departments develop their own Climate Change action plans and policies. The guidance is intended to consider the emerging issues that will need to be considered by member companies at an individual site. In GB from the 31st August 2022 all new applications as well as existing permit holders will need to include an assessment of risks and proposed mitigations resulting from climate change to and from their businesses via their management forms. MPANI will continue to engage with DAERA through our newly established liaison group and keep members informed.
PROCUREMENT STRATEGY
The MPANI Highway Maintenance and Construction Group submitted a detail response to the Departments Consultation on the new Procurement Strategy. The response was a collective view of the Departments aims and proposals. Each individual member responded to the consultation questionnaire. MPANI made it clear in our response that the current proposals lacked detail and further clarity was needed on how many of the proposals would work in reality. We are pressing DfI for further engagement including a face-to-face presentation in December in which the Department will have an opportunity to answer many of the questions asked during the consultation. AFFILIATES LUNCH
A very well attended Affiliates lunch took place on the 2nd November with 40 affiliate members and executive members attending. Richard Ramsay, Chief Economist at the Ulster Bank gave an excellent presentation and insight current economic and political challenges.
We have again booked Deanes for next year as this is a very popular event and gives recognition to our affiliate members and the important role they play in the success of MPANI. If you’re interested in becoming a full or affiliate member of MPANI and get access to up to date Industry news and guidance don’t hesitate to give me a call on 07876136929. It would be great to have you on board. Until next time please stay safe!
YOUNG IRISH ENGINEER CREATES HIS OWN TEDDER RAKE COMBINATION
BY CHRIS MCCULLOUGH
AN Irish agricultural machinery engineer has created his very own tedder rake combination, thought to be the only such machine on the market, and hopes to make it commercially available by 2024.
Based in Ballindine in County Mayo Michael Clarke, 27, has made a prototype of his Dualstar 6000E 20ft tedder rake combo that he says will save farmers and contractors significant costs. Michael, who works full-time as a mechanical design engineer for a machinery company, has always had desires to become self-employed and has formed Clarke Agri Engineering. While he also manufactures grass harrows it is the tedder rake combo that he hopes will be popular on the already bulging silage machinery market. Michael explained: “The Dualstar 6000E is a 20ft machine that works as a tedder spreading out the grass and then as a rake raking it into rows again. “This machine saves farmers and contractors from buying two separate machines and running them individually on two tractors. The costs saving here will be significant as there is only one machine to maintain,” he said. The Dualstar 6000E is hydraulically operated and is manufactured with a steel chassis and four steel rotors with a working width of 20ft. Michael advises the machine needs a tractor with at least 80hp to operate it. The machine has its own independent hydraulic system and can be easily switched between rake and tedder from the tractor cab. When the machine is in tedder mode, the axle folds up and the four rotors operate against each other. Then they work with each other when rowing up. While the prototype machine has been completed Michael says he needs to make a few tweaks to it to produce a demo machine running in next year’s silage season. “I need to alter a few angles on the machine when tedding to make the grass shake out a bit better,” Michael said. “I also may need to look at adding two bigger hydraulic motors to make it work faster when tedding. “I’m only working on this at nights and weekends, but I need to get the changes made and have a machine fully operational for trials next season. It’s only when I get a few operational hours on the machine next season that I can think about launching it commercially by 2024. A commercial launch fully depends on the price of steel and how that may change over the next couple of years.” When finalised, Michael says he can easily add a rotor to either end of the machine to make it six rotors with a working width of 30ft or even up to eight rotors covering 40ft. The 20ft machine is mounted on the two-point linkage, weighs 2,200kgs, is 5m long and has a transport height of 4m. While there is no exact price for the machine currently, Michael is confident it will cost less than if buying a tedder and rake individually. “I need to sit down and think about how I can manufacture and distribute the machine commercially,” said Michael. “I have a few meetings set up to discuss these details soon.”
news
A green tech solutions company, Changeover Technologies, based in Belfast, is set to revolutionise carbon dependent sectors having found a solution to reuse discarded fine particle waste.
With over five years in extensive R&D, Changeover Technologies has with an upscaled research and development team, successfully completed a five tonne per hour pilot test plant which sees fine particle waste transposed into pellets with a great economic value and lower CO2 value. Mervyn McCall Chairman and Investor at Changeover Technologies said: “Having been a Chair of this organisation for a number of years, I’m delighted to see that we have proven, innovative technology. Changeover has now the ability to take raw material and apply a unique pelletising formula and process and turn what is discarded fine particle waste and recycle it into pellets which are equivalent in their original raw material. No one else has this capability. “This is a very exciting time in this industry as we all look to find more sustainable and green solutions. Around the globe there are billions of tonnes of waste fines which must be disposed of, and in most cases, they go straight to landfill. “Changeover Technologies is the only organisation that has now developed a green solution to clean-up and reuse this fine particle waste which not only prevents new waste but cleans up legacy waste and, in doing so, reduce scope 1 and scope 3 emissions.” Changeover Technologies’ aim is to have a future commercial unit which has an output of 100,000 tonnes of pellets and their current target market is the silicon industries, which is dependent on high purity carbon reductants to produce silicon. Silicon is needed in many aspects of today’s world from construction to semi-conductors, the latter in everything from computers and cars to solar panels and wind turbines. Ken Flockhart, CEO of Changeover Technologies added: “I commend our dedicated and highly skilled R&D team and scientists. We now have innovative technology which enables the reclamation of waste fines to be used as a greener alternative. This has been a labour of love. Our proven technology and process, which has been patented, has successfully run in our test plant. We are now ready to upscale and catapult into commercialisation. This is a very exciting time for Changeover Technologies.” Changeover Technology has a number of principle investors with fund managers Kernel Capital and Clarendon Fund Managers. The company is currently looking for further investment.
Mervyn McCall, Chairman and Investor at Changeover Technologies with Ken Flockhart, CEO of Changeover Technologies at their former test site in Ballygawley, County Tyrone.
NI Water break ground on Ballyronan Wastewater Treatment Works
NI Water says work is well underway on a modern new wastewater treatment facility for Ballyronan, near Magherafelt.
Many local companies are involved in this major investment, including main contractor Coalisland-based GEDA Construction, with Newry-based Water Solutions Ireland carrying out the extensive mechanical and electrical installation at the site, while Belfast-based RPS Group are providing technical support for the project. The £4.8m programme of work will deliver important environmental benefits, such as enhancing the water quality in Lough Neagh and has been designed to accommodate development in the area for the next 25 years. The existing treatment works, which was constructed in the 1970s off the Ballyronan Road, remains in operation while the new infrastructure is being installed at the same site. NI Water Project Manager, Sean Milligan said: “This major investment includes the installation of state-of-theart, fully enclosed, treatment tanks, along with advanced electrical and mechanical systems to provide a robust wastewater treatment solution. “This will help enhance the water quality in Lough Neagh, bringing many benefits to the local community well into the future. “Our project team look forward to continuing to work with the community and supporting local businesses as far as possible through the delivery of this essential new wastewater infrastructure. We assure you that we will strive to minimise any disruption and complete the work in the shortest timescale possible.” Chair of Mid Ulster District Council’s Development Committee, Councillor Sean Clarke, added: “This new multi-million pound facility is good news for Council, as it will enhance wastewater services for customers in the Ballyronan area and beyond, whilst accommodating future development in the area.” This £4.8 million investment is due to be completed by late 2023.
Pictured here (L-R) are Andrew Dysart Geda Student Engineer, Dean Corry RPS, Shane McPartlan Geda Site Manager, Maurice McNulty Geda Contracts Manager, Ian Cowden NI Water, Councillor Sean Clarke Chair of Mid Ulster District Council’s Development Committee, Patrick Cunningham Water Solutions Ireland, Sean Milligan NI Water, Gareth Maguire RPS and Denis Ward Water Solutions Ireland.
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