Health & Safety Archives

Working During a Pandemic

Merryhill has been very fortunate over the past year to have remained open and continued to work throughout the pandemic. It’s something we’re immensely proud of.

We have managed to adapt and overcome multiple issues, whilst keeping all of our people and stakeholders safe.

We’re very fortunate to have a very large office space. This has allowed us to maintain social distancing, way above the recommended 2m, without the need to install additional screens which can limit social interaction.

As our organisation has grown throughout the pandemic, we have made further alterations to our office layout to accommodate more people. Additional cleaning has become the norm, as has keeping doorways open using automatic closers in the event of a fire / emergency. We’ve set up 2 kitchen areas to limit people congregating and installed alcohol gel at all workstations and points of entry to our site. We check peoples’ temperature upon arrival and insist on visitors making an appointment and wearing a face covering.

Yes, it’s been a challenge. Yes, it involves a different way of thinking. Yes it involves buy-in from everyone.

But we’ve managed it.

Large Asbestos Removal Project in Richmond

Merryhill is currently working on a large asbestos removal project in Richmond, South London. The site is the former House of Fraser store on Richmond High Street.

The project will mean converting the former department store into office and separate retail units. Current plans are to convert the top four floors of the building to provide 42,000 square feet of office space while the first two floors will provide 22,000 square feet of retail and leisure space.

Following the closure of the store in September, all stock and most of the fixtures and fittings have now been removed prior to our works which began earlier this month.

Former House of Fraser basement — Former House of Fraser (Richmond) following removal of AIB ceiling tiles to the basement

All floors contain some kind of asbestos materials, most notably the false ceilings which are mostly asbestos insulation board (AIB). Each floor is being carried out 1 by 1, beginning in the basement area and working our way up to the top of the building. In addition to the ceilings, there are also a number of AIB bulkheads surrounding the escalator penetrations to each floor.

Merryhill are currently on programme with completion of our works early in 2021.

The project has been a challenge from a logistical perspective as there is no room to cite a skip on site due to space restrictions in the former loading bay area. As a result, waste is being removed daily back to our licensed asbestos transfer station for safe disposal.

Top Performing Contractor – 3 Months in a Row

At Merryhill, we strive to carry out our work in the safest possible manner. No matter what size of project, our number 1 priority is the safety of our people, clients and wider public.

Merryhill has been working on a project for Wates Construction on the Isle of Wight for the past 3 months and achieved the safest contractor every single month!

With scores of over 90% for the duration, December has been our best month yet, achieving a score of 98%! A huge well done to all those involved on the project and long may it continue as we resume works in January 2021.

Merryhill Receives A-Grade ARCA Audit

Merryhill has recently completed works at the Brackenhale Academy site in Bracknell. This project has been carried out in a number of phases over the past 2 years as old blocks have been demolished and new areas of the school constructed. The project is part of a large framework contract for refurbishing / constructing schools in the area.

This final stage of the works involved the removal of asbestos insulation board shuttering to the floor slab of one of the remaining buildings after demolition.

The shuttering had been used sporadically during construction and needed to be completely removed prior to the footings being removed.

As a proud member of ARCA, Merryhill have 3 unannounced audits per year as part of our membership terms.

On this phase of the works, the auditor was very pleased with the site and how the works were being carried out, awarding an A-Grade.

Along with visits from the HSE throughout the year, such unannounced audits are a good opportunity for constructive feedback from external sources. These audits, along with our own site inspections are used to check our performance and act upon any opportunities for improvements.

Removing Asbestos During a Pandemic

At Merryhill, we’re big believers in safety.

Whether that be the way we move around our offices, or how we go about removing asbestos in homes and businesses across our region. Safety is our number 1 priority. Always has been and always will be.

We like to think we’re pretty good at spotting risks and overcoming them. After all, the nature of our business is to meticulously plan all of our projects to ensure everyone involved in our work goes home safe each evening.

That’s the way asbestos removal projects have always been carried out. Planning forms one of the basic fundamental conditions of having an HSE license.

Fast forward to early 2020…

COVID-19 – the single biggest risk the world has had to content with in peacetime.

Remember, we’re good at risk assessments!

Yes we had social distancing, yes we had lockdown, yes we had to change the way we worked, but we managed it.

We managed it, because safety is our number 1 priority.

We had some good fortune along the way…2 of our largest projects during 2020 were carried out during lockdown 1.0. Both were demolition sites so the risk of being in close proximity to other contractors was greatly reduced. We even provided our own welfare units to ensure good segregation.

Once established, our site teams have adapted very well to social distancing protocols and improved hand hygiene through guidance and additional facilities. We are also fortunate to have a large office space to allow social distancing to be easily achieved for back-of-house teams. Our yard is also in a separate building which meant we were able to create ‘bubbles’ of site-based / office personnel with the absolute minimum of personal contact.

Whilst all of the above meant we had a good foundation, the planning and behind the scenes organisation to achieve this was immense.

Assessing even simple things like how people travelled to work and identifying high traffic ‘touchpoints’ within our buildings became almost second nature. Carrying out risk assessments to cope with COVID-19 has been a challenge, but as a business we have adapted well and overcome most of the hurdles thrown our way.

Lockdown (1.0) Ends

As the restrictions were gradually lifted in June and July, another challenge had to be overcome.

Working in peoples’ homes.

Throughout lockdown 1.0, all of our local authority contracts were paused. As the economy began to reopen, all we had learned up until that point had to be refined even further. Keeping our own people safe was one hurdle, but reassuring tenants / homeowners and keeping them safe was another.

We worked closely with clients to ensure they were happy with our procedures before entering peoples’ homes once again. One of our clients, a local authority were very grateful for the way in which we conducted ourselves and have continued ever since.

David Ballan, Business Manager at Merryhill commented: “as a family-run business, our aim is to conduct our work in a way that minimises any kind of risk. COVID-19 is no different to this and was treated like any other risk that needed to be overcome. Simple protocols such as calling tenants beforehand to ensure they’re well and have no symptoms before we arrive have been one very effective method. This simple call has been an opportunity to speak to tenants in advance and put their minds at ease about how our teams will work in their home. Tenants have been very supportive too and receptive to finding out how we’ll be working. Communication is key to mitigating risks, no matter how large or seemingly trivial. I believe we have done everything possible to keep everyone safe and will continue in this manner.”

What we have learned

We have learned a lot during the pandemic so far and will no-doubt continue to learn as (hopefully) restrictions are lifted once more over the coming months.

Communication is key – talking to our people and clients has been the backbone of our ability to keep going throughout 2020
Risk assessments / planning – yes conducting a thorough risk assessment is difficult, but is well worth the effort. Luckily we have the experience to carry out this process more easily than some businesses.
A focus on safety – when this is your number 1 priority, protecting people becomes second nature

The future

If you require any asbestos to be removed and are worried about COVID-19, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our experts. Our friendly team are now well versed with overcoming the challenges posed and hopefully able to put your own mind at ease.

Merryhill Secures Renewed 3-Year Asbestos License

Merryhill is very proud to announce that we have secured a new 3-year license from the HSE!

We found the new license renewal application process a challenge and much different to how we had made our applications in the past. Previously, some information was provided in advance, along with the old application form (ASB1). Once these had been submitted, our local HSE Inspector would visit our offices and conduct an interview with the senior management team.

Upon reflection, the new license renewal process has been a good opportunity to reflect and sometimes simplify our own processes.

David Ballan, Business Manager, explained: “when you are not given the opportunity to explain internal processes and methodologies face to face, it forces the mind to focus on ensuring everything is kept as simple as possible. When completing the license renewal application, our aim for each question and piece of evidence submitted was that it was simple for the inspector to understand and digest.

The end result? As we enter our new 3-year asbestos license period, we have made a number of changes to our internal processes. As a business, we are always looking to make improvements to our ways of working. In doing so, our aim is to conduct our work in a safer and more effective manner.

By simplifying things, our aim is to not only cause less confusion for those looking inward, but among our teams. Why have a paragraph, when a sentence will suffice. Could an image tell a better story?

These are all questions we’ll be asking ourselves over this license period as we prepare for our next renewal in 3 years’ time.

Bring it on.”

Top of the Charts for Health & Safety

As a licensed asbestos removal contractor, Merryhill are used to receiving unannounced health & safety audits from the HSE, ARCA and clients.

In recent months, Merryhill has been honoured to receive best H&S contractor on 2 separate sites by the same client!

Our client, a tier 1 main contractor regularly carries out audits on our work, especially on long term projects. One particular project where we were working alongside a demolition contractor and asbestos consultant, we achieved best contractor for health & safety for 3 months in a row. This is testament to our company-side focus on ensuring the safety of of people.

Working in a high-risk industry, Merryhill are very familiar with assessing and reducing risks wherever possible. By working closely with our site teams to ensure their understanding, we can demonstrate ongoing improvement.

Fire Marshal Training Completed

On a bright and windy Saturday morning in September, all Merryhill asbestos supervisors and members of the back-office team had fire marshal refresher training.

Training was delivered by Benfield Fire Safety following recommendation from an employee. The importance of fire safety is paramount, especially given a large proportion of our work takes place on construction sites.

The training was very well received by all who attended, with many commenting it was the best fire training they had received to-date. We would highly recommend Benfield Fire Safety for any fire-related training or risk assessment needs you may have.

Migration to ISO45001

At Merryhill we are always looking to further improve our health & safety management systems. Following a successful audit by our accreditors, Alcumus, we have received confirmation that our migration from OSHASA 18001 to the latest ISO 45001 standard has been successful.

The team has worked really hard to make the transition possible, involving the complete overhaul of our previous manual and integrating the new document with our ISO 9001 and 14001 accreditations.

Speaking on behalf of Merryhill, David Ballan, Business Manager said: “Having all 3 standards running simultaneously is much more straightforward to manage as they are all interrelated. We are passionate about health and safety and committed to making improvements to ensure safety of our people, customers and stakeholders. Migrating to ISO 45001 was one of our key objectives for the year and I’m proud of the hard work and continued dedication of our workforce to achieve this key milestone.

Merryhill Re-accredited by CHAS

Merryhill has shown once again our commitment to H&S by having our CHAS accreditation renewed for a further year.

Being a member of ARCA, Merryhill gain our CHAS accreditation based on past audit data and general competence. This year saw a change to the usual process, with additional evidence required to support our renewal.

In previous years, our CHAS certificate had been renewed purely on the basis of feedback from ARCA site audits. The revised renewal process is now far more robust, requiring much more input from the contractor which we believe is a good thing.

Merryhill hold a number of accreditations which we believe underpins our knowledge, competence and experience as a licensed asbestos removal contractor. We hope the certifications provide peace of mind to our valued clients that we conduct our work in a professional and more importantly safe manner.