Blog

As a key accounts administrator, Nichola Hayes is instrumental to the smooth running of SOCOTEC’s Asbestos team, ensuring that the business unit consistently delivers a high standard of service to its clients. In this blog, Nicky discusses how working for SOCOTEC has broadened her level of expertise within the asbestos sector, and how effective time management and showing good initiative are considered key attributes for the role.…

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The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) require employers to prevent, limit and control the harmful effects of fires, explosions, corrosion of metals and similar energy-releasing events. Dangerous substances can be found in nearly all workplaces – including the rail sector – and include solvents, paints, varnishes, flammable gases such as liquid petroleum gas (LPG), dusts from machining and shot blasting operations, pressurised gases and corrosive substances.…

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A large number of sites across the UK are required under their environmental permit to install Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS). Many of these CEMS need to meet the requirements for MCERTS and the QAL1 section of EN14181 – the European standard for quality assurance of automated measuring systems – before on-site testing (QAL2 and an Annual Surveillance Test) can be performed.…

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Whether used to monitor the performance of the ground or adjacent structures and assets, or to control the rate of construction, civil engineering projects require many different approaches to geotechnical and structural monitoring.…

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Malcolm Hazel, HSEQ Manager at SOCOTEC Monitoring, shares some of his learnings from tackling COVID-19 in the workplace, and provides an overview of his varied career path, from welder and Peaky Blinders extra to his current critical role at SOCOTEC Monitoring.…

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With many buildings across the UK temporarily unoccupied as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown, property owners and responsible person/s must do everything possible to prevent the risk of fires starting and spreading. While fires can easily start as a result of faulty or poorly maintained electrical and gas supplies, idle buildings are not as regularly inspected or monitored to assess the level of risk posed by fire, making them more vulnerable to arson attacks.…

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On 23 June 2020, the UK government announced it was permitting more businesses in England to reopen on 4 July in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown, while also lessening social distancing guidelines to one metre or more where two metres is not physically viable. Businesses that will be resuming operations include pubs, bars, restaurants, hotels, hairdressers, barbers, cinemas and theatres, although employers are legally required to carry out a detailed COVID-19 risk assessment to keep the risk of transmission as low as reasonably practicable.…

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A report commissioned by the Government found that intermittent maintenance was one of the key factors which led to the partial collapse of the Toddbrook reservoir’s spillway at the end of July last year, as reported in Ground Engineering Magazine.…

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During demolition and construction projects, especially in densely populated urban environments, dust, vibration and noise can pose issues for neighbouring businesses, local residents and the surrounding community. The creation of some levels of these pollutants is unavoidable, but construction firms are increasingly required to demonstrate that they are taking proactive steps to minimise the impact that their activities have on the environment and prove that they are operating within acceptable limits. Environmental monitoring is therefore increasingly mandated on all types of development projects.…

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Whether immersed in water and soil or situated in a highly polluted atmosphere, unprotected steel is susceptible to damage as a result of corrosion, which has the potential to incur significant repair costs and impair the health and safety of both workers and the general public.…

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