Bethell : Construction Power Rail

Appointment of dedicated full-time HSQE Director

2008-12-10T16:22:21+00:00

Health & Safety, Quality and Environment have always been given high priority within the Bethell Group â�� but never more so than now with the appointment of a dedicated full-time HSQE director.

Ian Madden (48) was appointed to the position after an extensive nationwide search earlier this year.

He joined the Group in 2001 as health and safety manager and has nurtured the companyâ��s continuous improvement in all four areas ever since. During this time the department has grown from 4 to 17.

His first task will be to identify a structure for the whole HSQE function on a group-wide basis, consolidating, streamlining and expanding the roles of the team.

Said Ian: â��As a Group we have always put a huge amount of effort and resource into working together to continually improve our health, safety, quality and environmental issues, making the company an even stronger, more focused, safer business. A new phase of development is now underway and we all have our sights set upon further developing our HSQE record.â��

Tim Kilroe, Group Chief Executive added: â��Ian Madden has achieved great things for the Group over the past 7 years and was the most impressive candidate from the scores of people who applied for the position around the country. He has the Groupâ��s full support as he continues to drive forward one of our key improvement areas for 2009.â��

Bethell Group’s first dedicated full-time training manager

2008-12-10T09:14:39+00:00

Tony Costello is the Bethell Groupâ��s first dedicated full-time training manager.

Appointed with a brief â��to facilitate, manage and streamline Bethellâ��s statutory and development training needsâ��, Tony (38) will also be focusing on implementing a far-reaching succession plan for personnel within the business.

Tim Kilroe, Group chairman and chief executive commented:
â��When we appointed Lisa Manzano, our first human resource director, to the Group Board earlier this year, it signalled our intent to concentrate significant resources on the recruitment and ongoing development of our team. Tonyâ��s appointment is the latest strategic step towards our aspirations for the future. We recognise that we are nothing without high calibre, committed people â�� they are our business and we mean to stay at the forefront of our industry by becoming and remaining an employer of choice.â��

Tonyâ��s immediate goals range from maximising external funding streams to forging strong links with local education providers, with the help of his colleagues in the newly formed training department - Linda Edouardes, Rebecca Redgrave and Elaine Heathwood.

A time-served tradesman, before joining the Bethell Group, Tony was employed by White Building Services for four years firstly, training manager and then HR and training manager. Previously he spent 7 years at Construction Industry Training Board (Construction Skills) holding 4 separate roles: training officer, education advisor, OSAT co-ordinator and specialist training advisor, prior to this he has worked for several large contractors on a self-employed basis and has lectured at Bolton College.

A unique place in history

2008-11-21T11:24:02+00:00

Bethell Rail Ltd is currently well ensconced in demolishing and rebuilding platform 9 at York Railway Station in 13 weeks.

INTERESTING FACTS

Construction

As the platform is an island with no access to it other than high level walkways, some 2500 tonnes of spoil and 1200 pallets of new materials had to be ferried in and out by train.

The construction of the riser wall is of traditional build and consists of a block retainer wall with a face brick front, to make it both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

The project manager is Shane Townend. The first station at York (located inside the city walls on Toft Green â�� land previously occupied by a hospital for poor women - opened in 1841) was designed by George Townsend Andrews (a strange coincidence)

Shaneâ��s son, Andrew, has recently commenced work as a Bethell trainee and is also working on York platform.

Original Station
The first station had two platforms â�� one for departures and one for arrivals. Both were sheltered by a train shed with a pitched roof. An archway was formed through the city walls to allow trains in and out. Refreshment rooms were provided alongside the arrival platform. Next to the departure platform were facilities on two storeys including a spacious booking hall and boardroom.

This area now houses the car park area for Bethell Railâ��s York regional office and sections of the arrival and departure track can be seen to this day along with the historic buildings that formed this first station.

New Station

The new York station saw the first train leave for Scarborough at 5.30 am on 25 June 1877. It took 3 years to build and was the largest station in Britain at the time, confirming the cityâ��s status at the heart of the network.

It was designed by the North Eastern Railways Architect, Thomas Prosser. The 800 ft long train shed roof, held 42 ft above the platforms by iron columns, was widely admired. The whole station is built on a curve, making the architecture all the more impressive.

By 1910 about 350 trains were running through the station.

Legacy

All the team hopes that someone, someday, will be researching the history of the station and stumble upon the fact that in 2008, Bethell Rail demolished and completely rebuilt Platform 9, adding to its unique place in history.

Near Miss Campaign

2008-11-21T11:22:09+00:00

Bethell is currently running a Near Miss Campaign to encourage all the team to be vigilant and seek out potential hazards to prevent accidents. As an additional incentive, all Near Misses reported are entered into a monthly draw to win Â£100 of high street vouchers.

Said Ian Madden, group health & safety director: â��Any suggestions from employees which contribute to further improve health and safety on site or in the office are always taken on board. We are instilling a health and safety-conscious culture into all of our day-to-day activities and asking employees to remember that if we donâ��t know about it, we canâ��t do anything about it.â��

A NEAR MISS is any incident that does not cause harm but had the potential to

A HAZARD is something with the potential to cause injury, damage or loss (eg defective equipment or flooring, inadequate or absent safety controls, deviation from safe working practice, poorly maintained plant and equipment â�¦..)

Hazards have now been added to Bethellâ��s reporting procedure, to ensure that this information is properly recorded and can directly contribute to preventing future accidents.

All Near Miss or Hazard information submitted is investigated by the safety management team and the findings are always fed back to the employee who initially raised the issue, along, occasionally with a Â£100 worth of vouchers to spend in the high street of his/her choice!

New Rail Training Facility

2008-11-21T11:19:44+00:00

New training facilities have been installed at Bethell Railâ��s head office in Kearsley to give rail workers first-hand experience of operating in a real track environment.

Working in partnership with Develop Training, the facility comprises a 350 sq metre site, including track, ballast, switches and crossings, points heating, classrooms and a canteen.

Training modules include Track Safety, Permanent Way, Health and Safety and Plant Training.

Roger Godfrey, Transport Director for Develop Training commented: â��This is a fantastic new centre which will give workers a vital insight into operating in a real track environment by including composite tasks and assessments.â��

Tim Wood, Rail Director (Bethell Rail Limited) added: â��By working in conjunction with Develop Training we know that the training provided is being delivered by some of the most competent and experienced trainers in the UK. We have a common vision â�� to install similar facilities into as many colleges around the UK as we can and to develop a strategy for developing similar training grounds within prisons nationwide.â��

Tony Costello, Bethellâ��s training manager believes that the track training facility will make a real difference to in-house training. He explained: â��Hands on experience of this kind gives our personnel a distinct advantage â�� with them being able to learn efficiently on site with some of the countryâ��s best teachers. We already anticipate more than 90% of our team making use of this facility in 2009.â��

The Centre was featured in an article in Rail Technology Magazine, you can download the article here.

Health and Safety Seriously Improves Your Wealth!

2008-10-01T14:49:42+00:00

When one Bethell employee chose to make a suggestion to further improve site health and safety, not only did everyone else benefit but so did he to the tune of Â£25!

Tommy Hulme (21), a trainee civil engineer, highlighted the need to fix temporary covers on newly constructed manholes on the B895 construction site in Bury. Part of the main contractorâ��s DONâ��T WALK BY safety card scheme, his suggestion was chosen as the improvement of the month.

Said Tommy: â��I joined Bethellâ��s as an apprentice kerber after having started my career in plastering. Iâ��ve now just finished my first year ONC in engineering and hope to start my HNC in about 12 months time. Health and safety is such a high priority for everyone on site and it is obviously in all of our interests to make sure that we keep our eyes open and contribute in any way we can. â��

Vinny Oâ��Dowd, head of building and civil engineering added: â��Any suggestions from employees which can further improve health and safety on site are always taken on board. We always encourage all the team to be vigilant in seeking out potential hazards to prevent accidents and Carillionâ��s DONâ��T WALK BY scheme is an excellent additional incentive.â��

Powering Ahead With Operations

2008-09-30T22:51:18+00:00

Andrew Reay has been appointed as operations director of Bethell Power. Andrew joins Bethell from Enterprise Utility Services, where he was operations director for the company, responsible for Â£90 million worth of turnover. He has extensive knowledge of underground excavate and lay contracts.

Said Andrew: â��I am driven by the determination to continually deliver a quality service safely, effectively and to the demanding standards of our clients. By working to this formula we will have a strong platform from which to grow this business and cement our position as a leading force in our market sectorâ��.

Safety Record Recognised by Network Rail

2008-09-30T22:49:16+00:00

Bethell was presented with an award by Network Rail for achieving 200 accident free days while working on the WCRM TV4T (Trent Valley 4 Tracking) Project in Tamworth and Lichfield.

Phil Mellish, Bethell project manager commented: We continue to put safety at the very top of our agenda and risk assess all new activities prior to any work taking place. The rewards for this vigilance are evident by the recognition from the client that Bethellâ��s overall safety culture is first class and remains that way due to constant positive review.â��

Bury’s Newest Road on Track

2008-09-30T22:48:14+00:00

Buryâ��s newest road is now officially open. Part of the massive Â£330 million Thornfieldsâ�� redevelopment of The Rock, the
Â£10 million Derby Way links Moorgate to Rochdale Road â�� one of the main arterial routes into the town centre.

The main contract is being managed by Bethell, delivering all works with in-house specialists involved from power, lighting and surfacing teams.

Said Chris Cayton â�� Senior Contracts Manager: â��This contract gives Bethell the opportunity to confirm our position as a market leader with the ability to deliver large scale developments in-house.â��

This contract is more or less finished now.......

Bethell Steams Ahead With Western Power Distribution

2008-09-29T17:03:04+00:00

Western Power Distribution (WPD) has awarded Bethell a five year contract to service its L28 and heavy construction overhead lines.

With an option to extend the contract for a further two years, the contract gives long-term stability as well as a substantial forward order book to the Group.

As Tim Kilroe - Managing Director, explained:

â��This contract officially replaces the former contract that Bethell had with WPD which ran for many years, having been extended several times. We are absolutely delighted to be continuing our close working relationship with everyone at WPD.â��

Bethell awarded Thin Surface Course Accreditation

2008-09-23T19:03:29+00:00

Bethell’s road surfacing division has recently been awarded a prestigious accreditation to lay thin surface course (clause 942) by Tarmac, one of the UK’s leading supply chain partners in this area. This accreditation is to lay Tarmac’s branded Masterphalt product.

Bethell’s surfacing division manager, Dominic Kenzie, said:

“We are delighted to have secured this accreditation particularly as we believe that there are only eleven other organisations nationally that have also been accredited at this level. This has increased the range of work that we can now carry our for clients and we are looking forward to delivering superb quality and value for them in this area.”

Bethell Construction already have a similar accreditation from Cemex, another of the UK’s leading suppliers in this arena, to lay their clause 942 material which is called Viatex.