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With a long track-record of delivering rail-related projects, and the first crane hire company with the 5-star RISQS (Railway Industry Supplier Quality Scheme) rating, Ainscough Crane Hire has welcomed the focus Rail Safety Week is bringing to the sector.
An annual event, Rail Safety Week is an industry-led initiative focussed on highlighting rail safety for all rail users. Whether that be workers within the rail industry, or rail passengers, rail safety affects us all. Rail Safety Week aims to address, engage and promote rail safety bringing the subject to the forefront of people’s minds across a dedicated week of activity. Those activities are delivered under the banner of “Building Safety Together”.
Working in partnership with leading names in the rail industry, health and safety conferences, site briefs and school safety events will be held across the UK in order to promote the importance of rail safety to each and every one of us.
“Ainscough’s work in the rail sector has safety at its core, it’s about much more than wearing orange.” Explains Dave Berry, group QHSE manager. “Some of our most complex projects have been delivered for rail clients and the approach is one of preparation and ‘no surprises’.
Rail work is generally complex requiring a multitude of activities and contractors to work seamlessly together as Dave explains. He said: “Performing lifts on rail possessions is something of a different animal to delivering a lift on a general construction site. First of all, the timing tends to be out of standard hours with most work occurring at weekends or evenings. Keeping the tracks open for as long as possible is vitally important to minimise disruption to services. This also means that deadlines are critical.
“We will often work on a lift window of just a few hours. The level of preparation which goes into a rail lift is right up there with the most detailed lifts we perform.
“Weeks in advance we will have a team working out the detail of lifts in minute detail. Method statements and risk assessments are prepared well in advance so that everybody knows exactly what to expect when it comes to the day of the lift.”
Among Ainscough Crane Hire’s recent notable rail possession works are:
A service-critical railway station remodelling contract at Gravesend, Kent for Spencer Rail. The works were delivered as part of the Southern Train Lengthening Programme: a major Network Rail investment programme to increase capacity on busy commuter lines into London.
A nine-month project to accommodate new overhead power lines at the Farnworth Tunnel in Bolton for Murphy’s. Part of the electrification of the Manchester to Preston route, the £20.8 million project saw one of two existing single-track tunnels re-bored as a twin-track tunnel providing the necessary clearance for the power lines.
