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Introduction In the present economic climate every business is feeling the pressure and it has never been more important to take all…
Articles
Water Testing Cost Amendments
DEFRA’s Water Classification Directions to the Environment Agency Could water testing costs (either as part of due diligence work or operationally in…
Sign off Responsibility
It is common for Clients to request that their consultant obtains “sign off” of proposals for site investigation, risk assessment and in…
The Dangers of Trial Pitting
This is Alex Wright. Alex was a 27 year old experienced geotechnical engineer. He lost his life on Friday 5th September 2008…
Unexploded Ordnance – a Construction Industry Guide
As the representative of the AGS on the project steering group for the forthcoming CIRIA construction industry guidance on UXO, Andy O’Dea…
FPS Electronic Pile Schedule
The long nights of re-typing pile schedules could be a thing of the past as the Federation of Piling Specialists launches a…
Apprentices – back in vogue
Equipe Training Limited has delivered its’ first courses in September from their newly established Drilling AcademyTM near Banbury, Oxfordshire. The courses were…
Recruitment Aided!
The Ground Forum is delighted to announce that 19 ground engineering job titles have been included in the new ‘Shortage Occupations List’…
Are your e-mails and websites legal
Requirements of the Companies Regulations 2006 From 1st January 2007 external business emails issued by public and private companies and limited liability…
Eurocode 7 letter
Dear Editor I have been delivering lectures on EC7 parts 1 and 2 for a while now, and I remain amazed and…
Environmental Permitting regulations
The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations came into force on the 6th April 2008. They merge Waste Management Licensing (WML) and…
A new system for migrant workers
On Friday 29 February 2008, a new immigration system was launched to ensure that only those with the right skills or the…
AGS manual handling
More than a quarter of accidents that have occurred at work and have been reported to the enforcing authorities each year, are…
Defence cost in criminal prosecutions
It is probably common knowledge that fines arising from Criminal Prosecutions for Health and Safety breaches are not covered by a designer’s…
Construction Waste… and how to make it disappear
Half of construction waste already gets recycled, but the other half is still either being spread as waste (under various licensing exemptions)…
Establishing Ground Rules
Concerns over the place of Ground investigations in relation to CDM led John Banks and Mouchel Parkman to raise queries with HSE…
Use of Standard Laboratory Tests in the Assessment of Slope Stability of Peat
In December 2006 the Scottish Executive (SE) published a best practice guide for proposed electricity generation developments entitled “Peat landslide hazard and…
Underground Services and Utility Plans
Figures provided by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) record around 30 fatalities a year through contact with electricity. Most of these…
Specification for Piling and Embedded Retaining Walls Errata
There are errors in transcription in the first two print runs of ICE’s second edition of the Specification for Piling and Embedded…
Ground investigation industry urged to take heed of new EC regulations
In April 2007, yet another piece of EC Regulation came into force. This relates to drivers’ hours and the need for tachographs…
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (“CDM”) – Questions and Answers
Why was it necessary to revise the CDM Regulations 1994? The new Regulations came into force in April 2007. The purpose of…