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Wood Group Industrial Services were recently tasked with repairing the lightning protection system throughout the site of a client, which had deteriorated over the years and had further degenerated to an unsafe condition during storm Ophelia.
Wood Group Industrial Services assessed the site in question and although most of the work could be done from the roof, there was a necessity to repair the lightning protection vertical down tapes on the lateral of the buildings. During the project however, the company discovered that the vertical down tape repair proved very expensive for this client as it required extensive scaffolding to access the lightning protection down tapes in various locations on the exterior of the buildings.
Wood Group worked closely with their client to discover a viable strategy to carry out this work. They determined that by using Wood Group’s rope access technicians, they would ultimately save their client a large amount of money, as Wood Group Industrial Services could repair all the down tapes on the side of the buildings without any scaffold being utilised, as well as getting the work completed in less time and in a safer manner.
“We aimed to complete the work within eight weeks with weather permitting. The project was completed in five weeks to the client’s satisfaction, without incident,” explains Dan Jones, Operations Manager of Wood Group Industrial Services.
Dan Jones believes that there are many benefits to this model of working, the most important one being safety.
“There isn’t the need to build large scaffolds throughout the site, which would expose the contractors and the client’s employees to dangers during construction,” he adds. “There is also a decrease in clutter as rope access equipment takes up less space in the lay down areas, it is easier to store, and there is minimal transport equipment on site ultimately reducing the interference with other ongoing operations. Rope access enables operatives to access hard to reach areas, not to mention that this form of work is also adaptable to a variety of environments including confined spaces, working at height and highly congested areas, all without the need for complex scaffold designs.”
It goes without saying that the access industry and construction sector are fast moving and forever growing. Wood Group Industrial Services acknowledge this and therefore have rope access technicians across all their divisions which include; E&I, Painting, and Insulation. They own a rope access in-house training unit and are a member of the International Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA).
“We are eager to highlight this project and show the advantages, in relation to both cost effectiveness and safety, which rope access can deliver to the construction industry,” Anthony O’Mahony, the Operations Manager of Wood Industrial Services says.
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