IDE Bus drops off and picks up this week

This week sees the last few IDE members going through their emails, finding the one from Electoral Reform Services with the voting details in it, and reading the biographies of those wishing to stand for election to the Council of Management and Vice President before they place an electronic tick in the relevant voting boxes and sit back and await the results at the AGM. They did this last year and probably the year before, but why is this year different?

This year is an important election and a major junction for IDE members getting full recognition in the construction industry as true "Engineers" as we head down the road to a Demolition Degree and Chartered Engineers.

During his Presidency, Duncan Rudall has steered the IDE bus along the road towards these goals and done a very good job in the driving seat. After the AGM he will sit behind the new driver, Dave Darsey, and Dave's assistant (either Gary Bishop or Richard Dolman) as the bus trundles along the route and he will make sure the bus gets to the destination.

When the bus stops at the AGM it will drop off a couple of passengers who have a few years of experience of IDE matters, Steve Jack & myself, and pick up a few passengers who will be new to it all having been given a travel ticket by the Membership. When you cast your votes you will be giving someone that ticket so please consider the following before you vote:-

• Will they be able to stay on the bus for the whole of the route?
• Will they concentrate on where the bus is going and the massive amount of work to get it there?
• In their application for travel on the bus did they tell the truth? As this bus does not want fare dodgers & wheeler dealers.
• Do they understand that the IDE is for individuals NOT corporate entities and that the IDE Council has a "duty to it's members"?

These are very exciting times at IDE as the degree is now a whisker away so if you haven't used your vote, and if not why not, use it NOW and use it well.

"It's goodbye from me and it's goodbye from him"

Next Friday sees the 2016 IDE AGM when Dave Darsey succeeds Duncan Rudall as President and either Gary Bishop or Richard Dolman becomes Vice President, but it's also the day when Steve Jack steps down from the CoM after over 20 years round the table and I also step down after 10 years round the table!

Will we be glad to step to down? I am sure that Steve will agree when I say that it will be strange not attending CoM meetings, but we both believe that now is the right time to go to make way for a younger element on CoM who can continue our work and take us to chartered status.

The days saved by not attending the meetings will be used by Steve to improve his golf and by me to improve my fishing as we both move towards retirement.

When I asked Steve about his golf this week he said:-

For some time, my wife's had this ridiculous idea that I'm playing too much golf. Actually, it came to a head at about 11.30pm last night. She suddenly shouted at me: "Golf, golf, golf. All you ever think about is bloody golf!". And I'll be honest, it frightened the life out of me. I mean, you don't expect to meet somebody on the 14th green at that time of night.

And for myself:-

This week I was asked to do a very important after-dinner speech. I said: "Do you want me to be funny?" They said: "No, just be yourself."

Goodnight!

A message to all members as IDE Council elections are looming

This year sees changes at the top of the IDE with David Darsey taking over the President's jewel from Duncan Rudall and places on the Council available in the election.

The nomination process is now complete and all members have received their voting papers via email along with full biographies of those standing for election.

This year, for the first time for eight years we have an election for Vice President that is between Gary Bishop and Richard Dolman and your choice is very important to the future of the Institute. During Duncan's presidency we have moved to within a whisker of chartered status and we now have a demolition degree from 2017 and we cannot let the progress end.

Both candidates will do the job in their own way with Gary bringing his steady hands from his time as NFDC and NDTG President with him and his ability to consider proposals and to discuss and debate those proposals to find the best solution for the members, whereas Richard brings experience in organising IDE events and sitting on IDE Council and couples that with an enthusiasm for the IDE membership and all things demolition. Please read both biographies carefully and consider who deserves your vote.

The voting papers will indicate that you have votes to use on your selections and I would urge you all to vote and to think carefully as to how you use those votes. If, for example, you really like three candidates then just vote for those three as if you cast your "spare" votes for others who are not your preferred choices then you could, inadvertently, end up voting candidates into office who were not your preferred choice. As in effect using all of your votes "dilutes" the election process.

Please read the biographies from all of the candidates and decide if what they say is factual and is in the best interests of the IDE before placing your vote with those who have the IDE at heart.

Please remember that the IDE is an organisation for Individual Demolition Engineers and not company organisations and that the core membership is individuals working within our industry. During my time on the Council and during my Presidency I tried to make the IDE an institute for the people, please vote for individuals who want it to remain that way and who have the best interests of the IDE and it's core members in mind.

Duncan Rudall receives letter of thanks from the Teenage Cancer Trust

As you know, the demolition industry is full of companies and organisations doing their bit for charity, and the IDE is no exception. Current IDE President Duncan Rudall received the letter you see below from the Teenage Cancer Trust following a donation of £2,500.

Duncan decided to select the Teenage Cancer Trust as worthy of supporting after Stephen Sutton spoke at an IDE Seminar in February 2014.

Teenage Cancer Trust receives first donation from the IDE

Nicola Irvine, Regional Fundraiser South East for the Teenage Cancer Trust was invited to City Temple last month where Duncan Rudall, current IDE President, handed her a cheque for £2,500.

The money goes towards supporting teenagers with cancer through expert care and support. They don't have to face cancer on their own, but the charity needs ongoing donations to ensure their good work can continue. The IDE donation helps, and it won't be the last with future fundraising events already being planned within the organisation.

Source: IDE

Duncan Rudall makes his maiden speech as IDE President

Here at C&D we have regular employees who are members of the IDE and others who come into the company as and when required. It is one of the latter, Duncan Rudall FIDE, who was recently elected to the position of IDE President at the AGM and luncheon held at the Tower of London.

Whilst there, Duncan made his maiden speech and the video camera of KHL DRi magazine was there to record it and make it available for us to share with you now. You can watch it over on the KHL website.

IDE Council elections are looming

This year sees changes at the top of the IDE with Duncan Rudall taking over the President's jewel from Steve Jack and five places on the Council available in the election.

The nomination process is now complete and all members will soon receive their voting papers via email along with full biographies of those standing for election.

The voting papers will indicate that you have UP TO 5 votes to use on your selections and I would urge you all to vote and to think carefully as to how you use those votes. If, for example, you really like three candidates then just vote for those three as if you cast your "spare" votes for others who are not your preferred choices then you could, inadvertently, end up voting candidates in to office who were not your preferred choice. As in effect using all of your five votes "dilutes" the election process.

Please remember that the IDE is an organisation for Individual Demolition Engineers and not company organisations and that the core membership is individuals working within our industry. During my time on the Council and during my Presidency I tried to make the IDE an institute for the people, please vote for individuals who want it to remain that way and who have the best interests of the IDE and it's core members in mind.

This election is crucial for the future of the IDE following the last two years of consolidation so please vote wisely and, please vote Woodward.

IDE Vice President Duncan Rudall co-facilitates NDTG Demolition Manager Course in January

Since it's inception the NDTG Demolition Manager Course has been delivered by John or Roy Brown, but changes are afoot in 2014 as Duncan Rudall is joining John on the January intake in Birmingham with a view to assisting with revising the course content and delivering future courses.

NDTG and C&D have agreed that the course requires updating and it will, therefore, be updated after the January intake with Duncan assisting with the update following his attendance on the course as a co-facilitator.

Duncan is a self employed demolition trainer and consultant who works closely with C&D to deliver quality training throughout the UK.

The photograph shows Duncan receiving his IDE Vice President scroll from current IDE President Steve Jack.

IDE Back On Track

IDE members have noticed that, following the resignation of Valerie Stroud in February of this year, new President Steve Jack has had a few issues to deal with and, with the help of Vice President Duncan Rudall, Stuart Accleton and the rest of the Management Council those issues have now been resolved.

Comments have been made that the IDE was losing the momentum built up over the last 5 years and the lack of a media presence, with no website and twitter feed, was not helping to recruit new members and keep existing members informed. I can assure you that those comments have been addressed.

First job was to recruit a new National Secretary to replace Valerie and we now have Maureen Tong-Ralphs in post and working well. Maureen has recruited a new assistant so that administration in the office can now be back to normal.

The IDE website is now up and running with news feeds but it is having a full revamp and re-launch in the next few weeks so keep visiting the site and wait for the re-launch.

The @IDEPresident Twitter feed is now working again and Maureen will tweet news for the IDE office on a daily basis.

It has been a difficult few months but the IDE is Back!

Marnes Bekamp leaves NXBurst

With many regrets NXBurst must let you know that their employee Marnes Bekamp left the company at the 1st of May 2013. Marnes has chosen to make a career change. Of course they are happy for him and they wish him a lot of good luck in his new career!

Also they extend many thanks to Marnes for the effort that he has put into NX Burst Europe BV.

So how does this affect MXBurst in the UK?

Actually it will not affect it at all as Duncan Rudall, IDE Vice President, and his business partner Allan Poxton have taken the UK franchise of NXBurst and will roll out the concept through the UK from 1st June 2013.

If you have any difficult bases that need removal, such as in basements or bank vaults then the NXBurst system is the one to consider. Full details are available from Duncan at duncan.rudall@gmail.com

A new beginning for the IDE

This Thursday at 9.00am will see the IDE Council of Management meet in full for the first time since the sudden resignation of Valerie Stroud following the successful seminar in Leeds at the end of February.

The council, under the leadership of Steve Jack, will sit for the first time since the bombshell resignation and plan IDE activities, consider membership applications and address member concerns.

For the new National Secretary, Maureen Tong-Ralphs, it will be first time that she has met or spoken to many council members so it will give them the opportunity to meet her and welcome her into the position. Maureen was recruited following a lengthy series of interviews by President Steve Jack, Vice President Duncan Rudall and Stuart Accleton and she is now working her way through the backlog of work left behind when Valerie Stroud resigned.

Items for discussion at the council remain confidential, but I can tell you that the events team will discuss the forthcoming Demo Expo 2013, the OGGS Seminar booked for Friday 27 September and the AGM and annual luncheon booked for Friday 15 November.

IDE appoint new National Secretary

The IDE was surprised in February when Valerie Stroud decided to leave the position of National Secretary at a minutes notice and there was some disruption to Institute business since then but now they are back on track.

IDE President Steve Jack, Vice President Duncan Rudall and Council of Management member Stuart Accleton have taken their time, interviewed many applicants for the position, (nearly as many as were interviewed for the Wolves Head Coach position) and have made the appointment of a new National Secretary.

We are pleased to announce that Maureen Tong-Ralphs has taken over the position and is now getting to grips with institute business. She will attend her first IDE Council meeting on Thursday 13th June at Armac Group in Birmingham.

Here at C&D we wish Maureen all the best in the position and look forward to working closely with her for the future.

Do companies learn from their mistakes and implement changes?

Last week saw an article on Demolition News that reported that Thomas Vale and CMR Demolitions Ltd had been prosecuted for failings on a demolition project at Stoke on Trent that left one of CMR’s workforce seriously injured.

The HSE required CMR to take action and to change the way that they dealt with similar works so did CMR take that action?

Yes.

Immediately following the accident CMR implemented the following:-

• All CMR and specific Thomas Vale personnel attended a one day demolition structural awareness course written especially to address the issues and delivered by John Woodward and John Harris of Stewart & Harris Structural Engineers. The course content included some of the elements of the structural module of the NDTG Demolition Manager Course (delivered by John & John) and specific focus on modular buildings and included a group exercise on why buildings collapse and how removal of what appear to be minor components, can seriously compromise the structural integrity of a structure.

• CMR engaged Duncan Rudall of DCS Training via the NDTG to deliver CCDO and CPCS assessments for all machine operators and relevant employees and supervisors to “upskill” the workforce.

• CMR implemented “Super Toolbox Talks” from senior management to emphasise the need for additional diligence on demolition projects and the need for a comprehensive RAMS regime to be in place.

These steps plus additional auditing from CMR’s in house H&S Department have made a difference to the safety culture of the company from Directors down to the workforce and instilled a desire to never again be involved in an accident.

CMR cannot turn back the clock, even though they wish that they could, to make their employee safe but they have learnt from the mistake and taken positive steps to prevent a reoccurrence.

C&D Consultancy continue to be featured in Demolition magazine

When Mark Anthony Publications launched their new magazine "Demolition" earlier this year we were pleased to be featured in the first edition and that pleasure is now repeated with C&D featuring on pages 40 & 41 of the current edition in the "Breaking Free" article introducing our new breaker training course in conjunction with Rammer.

The new course, fully featured on our sister site www.demolitiontraining.com, is an industry first and follows extensive discussion with Alan Matchett at Rammer to provide not only a bespoke training course written around the Rammer operating manual, but an agreement to provide trainers to deliver the course anywhere in the world that Rammer hammers are in use.

The new course will be available from 1st April 2013, initially with one trainer whilst John Woodward, Duncan Rudall, Roland O'Connor and Craig Wilkinson complete the extensive inductions into "the Rammer way" in Finland from 20th to 23rd May.

If you would like to read the Rammer training article in full you can do so by visiting www.demolitionnews.com and registering for a paper copy of the magazine. Or why not read it online right now.

C&D Consultancy are appointed by Rammer to carry out hydraulic breaker training globally

C&D are absolutely delighted to announce that, following an extremely long and complicated tender process, they have been appointed as the global training partner for Rammer to deliver hydraulic breaker training.

C&D will deliver a bespoke training course as and when required by Rammer customers throughout the World from 1st March 2013 with the first courses already booked, including a four day period in Finland in May.

The training will be delivered by John Woodward, Duncan Rudall, Roland O'Connor, and Craig Wilkinson and full details and prices will be published on www.demolitiontraining.com.

Roland O'Connor MIDE

We are delighted to announce that Roland O'Connor, well known to many C&D customers, is now a Full member of The Institute of Demolition Engineers following his succesful professional interview in Leeds.

Roland is mainly known to C&D customers for the work carried out in the training room and the site audit fields of the business, but he has, for the last 5 years, been involved in many demolition projects throughout the UK for Erith, City Demolition, Liston Group, GHA and others, and he has produced H&S plans, method statements, and plans of work for many varied projects.

The IDE professional interview was daunting for Roland as he had to face questions from President Steve Jack FIDE, Vice President Duncan Rudall FIDE, and Dave Darsey FIDE about his portfolio prepared from his work over the last 2 years.

From all at C&D CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL DONE!

Great turnout for IDE Midlands Region Meeting

30 members of the Midlands Region of the IDE gathered together again on Wednesday 15 August at Casey Joe's, Solihull after work to hear a number of demolition related presentations and enjopy a post meeting curry and beer.

The event, organised once again by Adrian McLean MIDE and Noel McLean AMIDE of Armac Group, saw presentations from:-

• Total Training Limited who specialise in CPCS training and have a test centre in Solihull. Details of their training can be found at www.total-training.uk.com
• Duncan Rudall (IDE Events Director) who set out the changes to the CCDO High Reach card that will replace A65.
• Noel McLean who showed the new Armac Group timelapse film of bridge demolition on the M50.
• John Woodward who premiered the new Safedem Limited film of their recent Red Road blowdown.

The next Midlands Regional Meeting will be in December at a date and venue to be agreed.

NFDC introduces a 3-day High Reach Training Course

The High Reach is a machine that has become so popular in recent years, you may be surprised not to find one on some demolition sites. The problem is, they can also be very dangerous if not used correctly.

With that in mind, the NFDC introduced the High Reach Guidance Notes document 5 years ago. But that's no longer enough, and a 3-day training course has officially be unveiled.

Here's the explanation of the course direct from the NFDC:

"Open to demolition plant operatives holding an A65B CPCS card for excavators with a working height up to 15 metres, the new three-day course is designed to introduce candidates to additional health, safety and legislation required when operating a demolition-adapted high reach excavator at working heights of up to 30 metres. The course indentifies methodology and additional structural awareness required when dismantling differing structures.

The course also covers specific machine controls and maintenance requirements based on an array of manufacturers’ operating manuals. Candidates will also visit a manufacturers’ premises where they will have the opportunity to operate the machine in a controlled environment."

The course starts on April 3rd, 2012 and will be limited to 8 candidates. After that, the course will be repeated regularly in the months that follow, so you and your staff should be able to secure places.

For more information visit the following 3 links:

High Reach Training Course Schedule
High Reach Training Course Content
High Reach Training Course Application Form

We are also delighted that C&D employees Duncan Rudall & John Woodward were chosen by the NFDC/NDTG to write the course.

Further training orders for C&D Consultancy

We are pleased to announce that C&D training division have been awarded further training orders from City Demolition (Birmingham) Limited, Coleman & Company, Armac Group and Lee Demolition.

The courses will be delivered by C&D trainers John Woodward, Roland O'Connor, Chris Williams and Duncan Rudall over the next three to four weeks.

The orders take the total days demolition specific training delivered by the C&D team over the last three months to over 200 days.

Duncan Rudall and Wring Group get a surprise

New IDE Seminar Director Duncan Rudall of Wring Group got a surprise on Thursday afternoon when an unexploded WW2 bomb was found during demolition at the former Navy NAFFI site at Notte Street, Plymouth.

Duncan inspected the device, pictured below, in the usual demolition engineer way by giving it a kick and then called the bomb disposal team to deal with it. The MoD team erected a 300m cordon around the area, bigger than any we would use for a demolition blowdown, and they successfully defused the device.

When contacted by us Duncan confirmed that “Wring Group procedures for dealing with unexploded ordnance were followed to the letter which led to a safe removal of the bomb, but I would like to say:-Where was Dick Green when we needed him?”

Editor’s note:- Dick Green often featured on this site for explosive demolition works started his explosives career as a bomb disposal expert.