A world in crisis needs safe water

WOBO thanks ICC for the link to the article by Dominic Sims, Chief Executive Officer, reminding us of both need and action required to provide safe water. Although 70 percent of our planet is covered with water, less than one percent is drinkable. Clean water...

Juwi to Construct World’s Largest Solar Hybrid Project at Sukari Mine in Egypt

Solar power – capture and application. The Cape Town-based subsidiary of German renewable energy specialist Juwi AG, signed an agreement with Sukari Gold Mines to design, supply, build and integrate a solar battery hybrid power plant for Egypt’s largest gold mine. Centamin owns and operates...

UK: HSE inspections focus on occupational lung disease

A workers health and safety must be paramount within society. The Health and Safety Executive is inspecting fabricated metal businesses across Great Britain to check that they are managing the respiratory risks of welding fumes and metalworking fluids. From World Asthma Day, on 5 May...

Emergency Egress Violations – OSHA cites Beverly Hills’ Dollar Tree for exposing workers to safety hazards

A reminder – safety does not stop when the building is completed. BEVERLY HILLS, FL – Dollar Tree store workers across the country continue to face the same hazardous working conditions at the national discount chain as they have for many years. Since 2016, the Occupational...

UK: Water sector to plunge £2.8 billion into the green recovery

Creating a safer environment! The water sector is set to invest £2.8 billion in environmental projects to help the country build back greener. Ofwat, in collaboration with Defra, the Environment Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, and CCW, wrote to water companies last year and challenged...

Gill Kernick: ‘Post-Grenfell, we will see changes to regulations, firefighting practice and how building materials are tested and certified, but I am not confident that we will see systemic change’

WOBO is grateful for the link to Gill Kernick’s book and podcast, and asks the question “are we ready for systemic change?” WOBO Governor David Gibson found the interview and text provided challenging demands for society and reinforced the need for conceptual review and change....

England: Building Safety – Planning Gateway One

Building safety – changes scheduled for August 2021. The MHCLG has announced planning gateway one is to be introduced from 1 August 2021 for buildings over 18m (or seven storeys in height). The gateway involves new requirements to provide planning authorities with a variety of...

Wales: Ancient Rocks Deep Underground will Heat Next Generation Council Homes

Ground source energy! New eco-friendly social homes for rent in Denbighshire, Wales, are to be heated by warmth stored 450 feet deep in rocks laid down 350 million years ago. The first new homes built by the Council in Denbighshire in almost 30 years are being erected...

UK: New Environment Bill provisions to tackle storm overflows

Rivers – keep them clean! Three new measures on storm overflows, announced last month by Defra, will be added by government amendment to the Environment Bill later this year. The Bill will return to Parliament shortly after the Queen’s Speech, with the new legal duties due...

Fire at London’s New Providence Wharf flats “not due to cladding” says management company

A further reflection on the “cladding issues” in the UK. Over 100 firefighters tackled a blaze for nearly three hours at a block of flats covered in ACM cladding at East London’s New Providence Wharf in Poplar on the morning of 7th May.  The development...

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