Presidential Blog

Presidents Charity for IDE Luncheon on 18th November 2011

Wednesday, 16 November 2011 08:58 | Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 November 2011 09:02 | Written by VJS

I would just like a few minutes of your time to introduce you to Claire House, the Presidents Charity for today’s AGM.

Claire House is a hospice for children who have life limiting illnesses.

The 10 bedded unit is based in Merseyside and provides care for children and their families. All the children that go to Claire House are not expected to reach adulthood, although due to medical advances in the last 10 years many of their patients with conditions that meant they may only have lived until their teens, are enjoying a longer life.

Sadly though, many children will die and they go to Claire House for end of life care.

Claire House have to raise £2.5 million every year to keep their doors open to these children and provide the specialist care they require.

They get NO guaranteed funding from the Primary Care Trusts nor do they get any funding from government. Like all hospices they can apply for a grant of approximately £300,000 for the year.

This grant covers just 6 weeks of care out of the 52.

The rest of the money has to be raised through fundraising and donations and I have decided, therefore, that the IDE Presidents charity during my time in office will be Claire House. As such, the proceeds from today’s raffle and auction will be split, as they have in the past, between the IDE’s own charitable funds for further education within demolition, and Claire House.

Can I ask you to please dig deep in these difficult financial times to help us to raise as much money as possible for this deserving cause.

John Woodward. IDE President

David Ross Turner RIP

Tuesday, 13 September 2011 12:05 | Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 September 2011 17:15 | Written by VJS

David Ross Turner RIP

John Woodward, IDE President writes:

It is with great regret and much sadness that I have to advise IDE members of the death of David Ross Turner at home on the morning of Thursday 8^th September 2011.

David, known to most people as Ross, was IDE President from 2006 to 2008 and the election to that position completed his personal hat trick of being president of ARCA, NFDC and IDE.

Ross was dedicated to the demolition industry throughout his lifetime and was instrumental in implementing a more professional exam structure within the IDE and the encouragement of closer ties with other professional organisations.

During his time as Managing Director of Detech Environmental he employed and trained a great deal of demolition engineers, myself included, in the standards needed to carry out demolition in today’s market places and was a great innovator within the chemical plant demolition sector.

Ross had been ill for some time but still attended the 2011 IDE Golf Day and the recent NFDC Convention in Portugal.

He will be sorely missed in our industry for his knowledge, his wit and his dedication.

Our thoughts are with Sheila and her family at this time.

Rest in Peace, Ross.

Ross' funeral will take place on
20 September 2011
at 2pm
at
All Saints Church,
Common Road,
Huthwaite,
NG17 2JT

Family flowers only

Donations would be much appreciated to the
John Eastwood Hospice
Co-Operative Funeralcare
Devonshire Square
Sutton in Ashfield
Nottinghamshire
NG17 1AB

How do I get CPD hours?

Thursday, 25 August 2011 08:25 | Last Updated on Thursday, 25 August 2011 08:45 | Written by VJS

Richard Comley, my representative at the NFDC Convention, has called me from Portugal to ask for clarity as to what CPD hours are required for IDE members and how they can be obtained so I have pleasure in confirming.

All IDE members need to achieve 20 CPD hours per calendar year and those 20 hours are split as follows:-

6 Core IDE hours
These hours can be obtained in the following ways:-

IDE Seminar (whole day) 6 hours (2 Seminars per year)
IDE roadshow/workshop 4 hours
IDE Regional meeting 2 hours
IDE Exam Prep Day 4 hours
IDE Council meeting 2 hours
IDE AGM (NOT THE LUNCH ONLY) 2 hours
Enter the IDE Best Paper award 6 hours
Presentation at IDE Seminar 6 hours
Write an article for Demolition Engineer 2 hours

14 Non Core/Non IDE hours

These hours can be obtained in the following ways for example:-

NFDC Seminar/Demolition Day 6 hours
NFDC Convention business meeting 2 hours
NFDC Working Wednesday 2 hours
Annual Demolition Awareness refresher 4 hours
Annual Asbestos Awareness refresher 2 hours
Environmental awareness course (whole day) 6 hours
Researching waste management legislation
Demolition plant training (not the assessment)
Demolition training on recognised NDTG courses and other demolition related courses from other providers.
CDM training on registered courses.

CPD should be "Any educational activity that enhances an individual's skills and knowledge within the science of demolition engineering" and as such other study may be included in the non IDE core hours. Examples are:-

Research into disposal of unusual wastes from a job that you are tendering for.
Researching alternative methods of demolition, such as hydro demolition.
Reseaching information about unusual hazards, such as chemicals not normally encountered.
Communication and training skills training.

Full, clear and concise details of IDE CPD and how to record it is contained in the excellent leaflet on the IDE website and sent by post to all members by Valerie. Link to the leaflet

CPD is not difficult to do as attending one of the 2 excellent IDE seminars per year will give the member his IDE core hours in one day.

When you consider that the average demolition engineer works a 40 hour week for 50 weeks of the year he is at work for 2000 hours and he must, therefore, be willing to give 6 of those hours, 0.3%, to achieving his IDE core hours. The remiander of the 20 hours, the non core hours, he will easily achieve by recording what he does in a normal working week.

For example (1):-

Monday

Go to look at chemical plant demolition job. Plant produced acids. Research on internet into acid/alkili interaction. 2 hours

Tuesday

Attend breakfast meeting with WRAP 2 hours

Wednesday

Visit Kokurek to discuss adapting machine to take larger shear and discuss engineering implications 1 hour

Then attend NFDC Working Wednesday 2 hours

Thursday

Do risk assessment for working alongside the main line railtrack into London 1 hour

Friday

Research on internet into NEC Contract clauses as you have never done work under that form before 1 hour

Then attend the IDE Seminar at OGGS 6 hours Core IDE

Total IDE Core Hours that week 6 (You only need 6 per year)

Total Other CPD hours that week would be 9 hours, and you only need to achieve 14 all year!

Example 2.

Write and present a presentation at the IDE Seminar.

Writing the presentation and doing the research: as many 'other' CPD hours as needed

Presenting at the seminar 6 hours Core IDE CPD

CPD is not difficult to do. It is just a case of getting used to recording what you are doing. Best policy is to either use the form in the Members Area of the website or send an e-mail with date(s), hours and brief description to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

IDE Golf/Fishing Day comes to the Midlands.

Monday, 04 July 2011 08:08 | Written by VJS

John Woodward writes

Following on from the success of last years event in Tewkesbury the IDE Golf Day, that now includes a fishing option, comes to the Midlands on Wednesday 6th July at Stonebridge Golf Club near the NEC. The day will see 16 golfers and 10 fishermen attend the event before they are joined by a further 20 IDE members and guests for a regional meeting, evening meal and prize giving.
Our thanks go out to the following for the sponsorship of prizes:-
Michael Patefield FIDE,
Adrian McLean MIDE,
John Woodward FIDE.
Phil Jones of Volvo.
A full report on the event will follow later this week.

When will clients and Principal Contractors learn that cheapest is not best?

Wednesday, 02 March 2011 13:17

John Woodward, IDE President, writes

Over the last few months it has become evident to IDE members that demolition tender prices continue to fall. Sadly, two well established companies have recently folded putting experienced demolition workers out of work and affecting other contractors in the respective supply chains.

It appears to me that the current situation with lower prices will only lead to further misery and, if allowed to continue, will remove a great deal of highly skilled demolition personnel from our industry.

I am now calling for the HSE and the UKCG to take a close look at the industry and to emphasise to clients that to get the best value in demolition today only fully competent and skilled demolition labour should be used and, more importantly, only a skilled demolition engineer, and a member of IDE should write the method statement for that work.

CDM 2007 is crystal clear with regard to demolition in that only competent people should be involved, that the work should be planned and recorded in writing (Regulation 29) and as such demolition is the only trade specifically mentioned in CDM2007.

There is currently a contract out to tender in the North West where NFDC and non NFDC companies are on the list along with a company that dismantles cars!! How can that company ever be deemed competent under CDM2007 to carry out such a contract, but no doubt they are on the tender list because they will be cheap.

With accidents in construction continuing at too high a level are clients in danger of increasing those accident numbers by using unskilled, untrained and non competent labour? If so then clients must be made aware NOW that cheap is not the way to go and remember John Ruskin who said

"When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought is incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do."

Think on - Clients and UKCG - get a competent demolition engineer involved on your project now and remember anyone writing a demolition method statement is also a “Designer” under CDM2007 and as such he must be deemed competent in both roles.

Lecture over, lets work together to keep price levels reasonable and keep accident levels down.

You know it makes sense.

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