Wythenshawe Community Housing Group manages 14,000 properties providing homes for 29,000 people in Wythenshawe, South Manchester. Their purpose is to provide great quality homes and services to their tenants and leaseholds and to play a leading role in creating safer, healthier communities.
The Challenge
The current apparatus situated at all 9 tower blocks were outdated and borderline unsafe, including the anti-slip matting protection, access ramps, handrail systems and edge protection. This meant that when maintenance work was being carried out at any of the nine tower blocks; contractors were working in unsafe conditions. As a result, a potentially fatal incident could arise, which needed to be rectified immediately As part of the project plan, M&R needed to design access routes and plan how we were to install the new aids in a safe and secure manner throughout the process.
The Solution
As the works were at the top levels of each tower block; it would have been impossible to build the necessary materials needed on-site. Therefore, working in partnership with subcontractors Surpro, the edge protection, handrails and access ramps were pre-fabricated away from site and then delivered to the tower blocks to be installed.
In addition, we had to ensure we adhered to lone worker policies to ensure safe installation practices were maintained at all times. Each tower block required permits to work, which required 14 days’ notice to acquire. This meant that the each element of the works had to be delivered strictly on time, otherwise the overall programme schedule would be compromised and subject to delays whilst new permits could be acquired. Our teams scheduled the works.
The Results
Now, the 9 tower blocks have new, safe and compliant apparatus, with all works being completed on time and within budget. Furthermore, whilst we were not required to report formally via Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Wilkinson Cowan, on behalf of Wythenshawe Housing carried out weekly Health and Safety inspections to ensure that we maintained 100% compliance, which were achieved through weekly site visits from Wilkinson Cowan associates.
