Construct January 2013

construct January 2013

working well together

Outstanding Accolade for Casey December 7th 2012 saw a major success for P Casey (Land Reclamation) Ltd, with us winning the prestigious BALI Grand National Landscape Award — one of the most prestigious awards in the UK — and the Principal Award in the category of Restoration and Regeneration.

The Lichfield Parks Project in Staffordshire, the award winning project, was carried out for Lichfield District Council and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Presented by BBC News reader Huw Edwards, the BALI Awards were in recognition of the excellence Casey has achieved in workmanship, quality and work disciplines in delivering a multi-faceted project.

Located in the shadow of the iconic three spires of the City’s 13th Century Cathedral, the Lichfield Parks Project restored the historic landscape and provided new modern amenities: a new sports pavilion, a cafeteria and a sports facility changing room extension. Sensitive landscape Restoration included fine horticulture works to the gardens and grade 2 listed green spaces and flower beds along with refurbishment of footpaths, fountains and water features.

Stonework restoration comprised cleaning and restoring the statues of King Edward VII and Titanic’s Captain Smith and the sensitive refurbishment of the War Memorial and Remembrance Gardens.

The BALI National Landscape Grand Award is a significant landmark achievement in Casey’s work history portfolio, being an authentic demonstration and recognition of our capabilities, versatility and excellence by the foremost authority of the industry.

Comments made by the Judges were particularly pleasing.

Grand Award as well as the Principal Award, is testament to the quality of the project. The care taken by this BALI Contractor and attention to historic detail has been truly outstanding.”

Operations Director Mike Cafferky said “We are absolutely delighted to have been granted these awards; we see it as recognition of the quality of our service and reputation against the benchmark of the best in the country. The Grand and Principal Awards represent the highest accolade we could achieve in this market sector and we are justifiably proud of this result. We are particularly pleased with the Judges’ comments and thank them for their observations and compliments.”

Lichfield Park Case Study is on our website.

“This extensive historic park refurbishment project required the skills of a specialist in the field of historic landscape restoration. P Casey (Land Reclamation) Ltd has dealt sensitively with restoring all the elements of the historic parks and open spaces running through the heart of the Cathedral City …...... To go up against the winners of all the categories in the National Landscape Awards and win the overall

Success to build on for the new year!

2012 was a tough year for all of us, and predictions for 2013 show more of the same. At Casey, however, we do have some great successes to celebrate. Our restoration project at Lichfield Parks scooped not only the BALI category award, but also the Grand award – the top landscaping award in the UK. Also our Building division secured one of the first

passivhaus retrofit schemes to be undertaken in the UK. And on top of all that, we achieved Distinction in the British Safety Council International Safety Award and RoSPA Gold, as well as being finalist in several other awards.

Our strongest asset is our dedicated workforce whose skill and commitment has driven us forward and enabled us to excel above others. Despite the challenges of the market, we have continued to deliver a quality service to our clients.

These awards, contracts and nominations are testament to the quality and attention to detail we put into everything that we do. It is this that gives us a firm foundation moving forward. It continues to give us good tendering opportunities for our specialist divisions and for some prestigious and high profile projects.

Our successes could not have been achieved without the hard work of all our people and I would like to thank you all in advance for your invaluable contributions in 2013.

To submit articles or information for this newsletter, contact Debbie Hubbard on 07834 867580 or debbie.hubbard@casey.co.uk.

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Health, Safety and Welfare Gas Safety If gas appliances are not working properly, then homes and families could be at risk from gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Gas incidents like these killed 17 people in the UK in the last year and injured a further 428.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 make it illegal for anyone to carry out any gas work covered by the

Regulations unless they are on the Gas Safe Register.

Make sure you check your engineer’s Gas Safe ID Card. If they don’t show it to you when they turn up at your door, don’t be afraid to ask to see it.

Make sure you check the photo, start and expiry date, licence number and the security hologram.

On the reverse of the card, make sure your engineer is qualified for the type of gas work you want done, and that their qualifications are up to date.

Winter Vomiting Bug Norovirus, or the winter vomiting bug, is the most common stomach bug in the UK. More common in winter, it can actually be caught at any time of year. It is highly contagious and causes vomiting and diarrhoea.

There is no specific cure for this bug and you have to let it run its course, but it should not last more than a couple of days.

If you get norovirus, make sure you

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Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.

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Take paracetamol for any fever or aches and pains.

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Eat foods that are easy to digest.

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Stay at home and don’t go to the doctor because norovirus is contagious and there is nothing the doctor can do while you have it.

However contact your GP for advice if your symptoms last longer than a few days.

Stop it spreading

Never work or interfere with any gas appliance or installation unless trained and authorised.

The virus is easily spread by contact with an infected person, especially through their hands.

You can also catch it through contaminated food or drink or by touching contaminated surfaces or objects.

Always check any engineer is Gas Safe Registered.

Make sure you

Coronation Street storyline brings Carbon Monoxide danger to public attention

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Over the Christmas period, Coronation Street fans saw Fiz Brown suffer from deadly CO poisoning caused by a faulty gas boiler. Fiz was found unconscious on New Year’s Eve, after suffering the symptoms of CO poisoning, which she mistakenly took for flu.

In the show, Tyrone who unlawfully tried to fix Fiz’s boiler could face prosecution because he is not on the Gas Safe Register.

Carbon Monoxide poisoning is known as the ‘silent killer’ because you cannot see it, taste it or smell it. It is produced when gas appliances are not working properly, either because they have been fitted badly or poorly maintained.

Wash your hands frequently.

Do not share towels and flannels.

Disinfect any surfaces that the infected person has touched.

New Year’s Resolutions starting to crumble?

Carbon Monoxide detectors are widely available, costing between £15 and £35. The Which? website gives good advice http:// bit.ly/10bACKA

If you made any New Year Resolutions and you are already beginning to struggle to keep them up, you are not alone.

Here’s an interesting article about the most common resolutions and how to go about them the right way. http://onforb.es/10ceShG

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In the community

working well together

For the third year, we have been one of the sponsors of the Six Town Housing Community Star Awards.

For this year’s event, we sponsored the ‘Young Rising Star ‘ Award and our Sarah Harwood took the stage to present the award to winner Bethany Jolliffe.

The judges said this about Bethany.

‘Bethany gives up a huge amount of time to help others. From helping in her local community group to helping to plan and organise fun days bringing the community together. Despite overcoming personal obstacles, she is a key member with our local youth club, organising, planning and carrying out activities for the local children.

Bethany is very reliable and always on time no matter what the weather and completely trustworthy. One nomination said “It’s uplifting to see a young person so motivated and so socially aware and caring when the youth of today get such a bad press.” Bethany is a credit to her family, her school, college and neighbourhood.’

In this issue we’d like to introduce our Building team working with Trafford Housing Trust.

Site Manager, Paul Dandy, and his team have been carrying out refurbishment works, including replacement kitchens and bathrooms, to three blocks of multi-storey flats (Clifford, Pickford and Grafton Court) and various tenanted and void properties throughout the Trafford area.

Bethany Jollife (left) receiving her award from Casey’s Sarah Harwood

At the Awards ceremony, Sharon McCambridge, Chief Executive of Six Town Housing, presented us with a Certificate of Recognition for our dedication and effort towards the delivery of great communities, excellent services and inspiring people.

In this photo we have (left to right) our Site Management Team, George, Mike and Sue, with Dave Thompson and Gordon Ronald of Six Town Housing

This team has been working together for the last 12 months on this £3 million project, though the site management team have been together for 4 years on the Trafford framework.

Paul Dandy, is a second generation Dandy to work at Casey — dad, Phil, worked with Casey for 25 years. Michael Duffy is also second generation — dad, Eddie, has been with Casey for 17 years.

Stephen Farnworth also deserves a mention for the charity work he has done following a personal tragedy in 2011.

When Stephen’s daughter, Amber, died at Wigan Infirmary when she was just a few hours old, Stephen decided make some good of this traumatic situation. He set out to raise enough money for a specialist piece of equipment for the neo-natal unit.

Stephen raised enough money for an ICE machine that lowers body temperature to a level that can limit neurological damage— the same kind of machine that was used on Fabrice Muamba in March last year. In fact the hospital was able to buy both a child and an adult machine.

Casey and Riverside Housing have been doing their bit to get local children involved in improving their environment.

They held an art contest, where every child who entered had a tree planted as a tribute to them at Lee Valley.

Here are the winning entries for each age category. Aren’t they great?

Abbie, age 10

Luis, age 7

Ruby, age 4

Stephen has continued to raise funds for additional equipment for the unit at Wigan.

From left to right: D Tomlinson (Joiner), J Hogan (Foreman), P March (Joiner), D Cummins (Multi-skilled), S Farnworth (Labourer), M Duffy (joiner), C Nicholls (Joiner), P Dandy (Site Manager), W Judge (Joiner), P McNamara (Plasterer), I Beresford (Apprentice Joiner), S Graham (TLO), C Tongue (Plasterer), D Morris (Labourer), M Gillmore (Apprentice Plasterer), C Stone (Labourer), M Luxon (Apprentice Plasterer).

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Some Top Tips to Cut Your Petrol Bill Petrol and diesel might never by cheap again, but there are easy ways to save money without parking up your car and getting on your bike!

Buying Fuel

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You’ll find the cheapest local source of fuel at www.petrolprices.com but use your common sense — don’t use £1 worth of petrol to drive out of your way to get 50p of savings.

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Only fill up when you need to. Fuel is heavy and the more fuel you carry around, the more you’ll use. Again, use your common sense on this one — if you drive in hazardous weather or in desolate conditions, it’s in your interest to keep a generous supply of fuel in the tank. Plan for the unexpected.

Vehicle Maintenance

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Get your car serviced regularly (according to the manufacturer’s schedule) to maintain engine efficiency.

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Make sure you use the right specification of engine oil.

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Check your tyre pressure regularly.

Under-inflated tyres create more rolling resistance and so use more fuel.

Any weight that you are carrying that you don’t need will burn up more fuel than necessary, so if there is anything in the car that you don’t need, take it out.

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Roof racks and boxes increase wind resistance. If you don’t need them, take them off. If you do need them, pack them carefully to reduce drag.

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Plan your route to reduce the risk of getting stuck in traffic or getting lost.

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Don’t start the engine until you are ready to go. The engine warms up more quickly when it is moving. In winter, scrape ice rather than leave the car idling to warm up.

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Cold starts use more fuel so combine your errands. And could you walk or cycle rather than take the car?

On Your Journey

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Before You Go

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Image courtesy of Michelle Meiklejohn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Drive smoothly, accelerate gently and read the road ahead to avoid unnecessary breaking.

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When you have to slow down, decelerate smoothly by releasing the accelerator in time, leaving the car in gear.

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If you can keep the car moving all the time, so much the better. Stopping then starting uses more fuel than rolling.

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Try changing up a gear at around 2000 rpm in a diesel car and 2500 rpm in a petrol car. (All cars in the future are likely to be fitted with a ‘Gear shift Indicator’ to show the most efficient gear changing point, because this can make such a difference.)

Air conditioning increases fuel consumption noticeably at lower speeds, so if it’s a hot day, open the windows around town and save the air-con for high speed driving. Keep windows and sunroofs closed at higher speeds.

Heated rear windscreens, demister blowers and headlights all increase fuel

consumption. Turn them off when you don’t need them.

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The faster you go, the greater the consumption. 70mph uses 9% more fuel than 60mph and up to 15% more than 50mph. Cruising at 80mph can use up to 25% more fuel than at 70mph.

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If you get stuck in a queue, turn the engine off to save fuel.

Coasting Although this used to be a common practice to save fuel, rolling downhill or approaching a junction out of gear is inadvisable because you don’t have full control of the vehicle.

With modern cars, fuel and ignition systems are controlled by one electronic unit, the ECU. Take your foot off the accelerator and the ECU cuts the fuel supply to the injectors, so there is nothing to be gained by coasting.

Modern diesel engines also have the ability to shut of the fuel when you take your foot off the accelerator.

You can find more information on this topic at http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/ fuels-and-environment/drive-smart.html

There is always a lot of input required to produce this newsletter, and it’s a team effort. We would like to say a big Thank You! to all contributors to this issue: Chris Williams, Mike Hyde, Sarah Harwood, Phil Hey, Phil Dandy, Sue Gilbertson.

The Casey Companies Rydings Road, Rochdale, OL12 9PS T: 01706 341121

F: 01706 861156

E: info@casey.co.uk

W: www.casey.co.uk