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Wiltshire firm to provide Waste Management Service under MoD’s largest PFI estate contract
Hills Waste Solutions, a division of the Wiltshire based Hills Group Limited, has successfully bid against two national competitors to be awarded a new waste management contract with Aspire Defence Services Limited.
The contract will run for an initial 3 year period with an option to extend for two years. Hills will provide waste collection and recycling services to four MoD garrisons situated across Salisbury Plain and Aldershot, which currently generate approximately 8,000 tonnes of waste annually.
The service is being provided as part of Project Allenby/Connaught, the largest estates PFI ever let by the Ministry of Defence, valued at some £8 billion which will run for 35 years, and is being delivered by Aspire Defence, a joint venture between Carillion and KBR.
Hills’ success at securing the contract was attributed to innovations in both its pricing structure and recycling services. Charges for waste collection on a ‘pay by weight’ basis will enable Aspire to accurately measure the volume of waste generated and recycled. The introduction of Hills’ new Redtop Recycler service will allow several recyclable materials to be collected in a single container.
Hills also brings expertise gained through existing long-term waste management contracts with major public and private sector organisations in the South West.
Commenting on the contract award Alex Marland, Development Manager for Hills Waste Solutions said, “We are delighted with the award of this contract. It is ideally suited to Hills’ new Redtop Recycler service for co-mingled recycling and marks the beginning of paying by weight in the trade waste sector.”
During an initial 3 month calibration period, baseline data will be recorded from which Hills and Aspire will agree targets to reduce waste sent to landfill and increase recycling rates – a practice which supports the sustainability initiatives at the heart of Aspire’s contract with the MoD and sets out to reduce soldiers’ environmental impact.
Extensive planning has been undertaken to ensure symmetry of the service across all the garrisons to maximise the opportunities for soldiers and their families to recycle. Caroline Sloman, Bids Co-ordinator for Hills, who project managed the contract mobilisation, explains, “The facilities for waste collection are the same at each garrison - whether at home, in communal areas or in the workplace. This gives a clear, consistent message which, from past experience, we know will increase and encourage recycling.”
Hills and Aspire Defence are already working successfully together in an existing partnership, now in its third year, which provides a waste management service specifically for construction waste generated on the Project Allenby/Connaught building programme. The fixed cost per cubic metre pricing structure allows Aspire to accurately forecast their construction waste disposal costs. Hills initially designed and continue to manage an on-site waste sorting facility which recycles 92% of the construction waste generated and, together with the crushing and re-use of the demolition waste, means Project Allenby/Connaught is recycling 97% of its combined waste.
Under Project Allenby/Connaught, the quality of life for over 18,700 soldiers, 20% of the British Army, is improving with to the provision of modern, high quality, fully serviced and purpose built living and working accommodation being provided by Aspire Defence.
Further information on The Hills Group Limited:
www.hills-group.co.uk
Tel: 01793 714450
Email: info@hills-group.co.uk

Where does ergonomics fit in the safety of large organisations?
by Andrew Healey, Human Factors Analyst
The causes of infrequent yet major accidents in industry or the more diffuse accidents in healthcare commonly trace back to management structures and policies for work, safety culture, poorly designed equipment and working environment, inadequate operating procedures and ineffective communications. It follows that there is an obvious demand for the Ergonomics and Human Factors (EHF) discipline for organisational safety.
EHF continues to grow in order to meet certain regulatory pressures in industry, and ad hoc requirements or research needs across domains. However, while EHF has an increasing presence in some organisations, it remains unclear where EHF ideally fits in organisational safety. We may not be surprised that some organisations do not have any defined strategy for their overall EHF application, as they might for other functions, such as human resources. A number of obstacles exist to clarifying where EHF fits, such as determining its value, its utility and the strategic framework used to apply it.
In healthcare, for instance, some hold the evidence-based view that EHF has little or no value to safety unless its application links to mortality. A focus on ultimate outcome is logical, but it ignores the fact that accidents usually have a complex network of causation and that the range of EHF interventions necessary for dealing with that network may be very difficult to model and link to outcome measures statistically. Accident frequency may be high enough to be very concerned with for its impact on people’s lives, but not high enough to relate statistically to EHF interventions.
Even if we were able to model a set of EHF interventions and measure their impact on safety outcome, this might not be so intuitively helpful. Consider that once an organisation achieves zero accidents that logic might dictate to the evidence based minded that the organisation would no longer need EHF. However, the general lessons of failure across domains indicate otherwise, in that past safety records will not guarantee future safety. The problem is that there are a great many factors influencing organisational safety and so the application of EHF may only be as effective as the strategic framework used to deal with those factors prospectively in their entirety.
An existing framework for safety, particularly the nuclear industry, derives from external regulation and the need to develop a case for safety in order to obtain the necessary license to operate. Essentially, this involves a detailed decomposition of a system and the identification of hazards. EHF assessments will provide the evidence for the adequacy of systems to support human performance with human error probabilities for the given tasks. The analyst may also identify contextual performance shaping factors and suggest alternative task designs. Some regulated industries have succeeded in becoming highly reliable and relatively safe through this regulatory framework.
However, while it is essential to eliminate, control and quantify human error from an engineering point of view, this cannot be the sole strategy for achieving and maintaining organisational safety from an EHF point of view. People working in complex systems do not operate in conveniently isolated units of linear work. They are less likely to learn, develop and refine their skill and performance from models of error than they would from models of performance observed in context. Moreover, their systems of work do not remain static; they may experience change and disturbance over time. For long-lived organisations, the loss of domain knowledge and expertise or rapid change in cultures through the succession of people may create further instability. The tendency of organisations to increase in size and diversity may exacerbate these problems. It follows that such disturbance to organisational systems, coupled with the complexity emerging from within them will inevitably lead to unpredictable consequences.(2)
EHF practitioners must therefore help to organise safety and compose organisational systems in coherent meaningful ways to ensure people can operate them effectively and reliably. As teamwork rather than individual work is likely to make organisational systems cohere, focusing EHF on teams may be particularly useful for safety. Effective teamwork may provide the synergy that amounts to reliability and safety. Furthermore, by modelling teamwork, it may be possible to provide a common reference for both managing human error through the conventional decomposition of systems that serves safety cases and for prospective composition of future systems.(3)
EHF holds considerable value for achieving and maintaining safety, if organisations realise the complexity of accident causation and the role of EHF in building safer systems. We can measure the direct value of EHF in terms of its effect on the conditions, interactions and processes of those systems, which will influence ultimate safety in subtle ways. We can readily measure the effect of EHF utility on improved product quality, ease of action and cognition, efficiency and job satisfaction. Collectively when modelled, these measures of process might relate to ultimate safety, but this will demand a sufficient sample size and a unifying reference model to integrate those measures.(4)
Organisations should realise the limitations of applying EHF according to ultimate outcome measures and ideally seek to apply EHF strategically in light of the developing theory of organisational safety. For this, they might pursue a systems approach to safety and concentrate the applications of EHF on the teams who comprise and integrate their organisational systems. Measuring EHF value and clarifying its utility in terms of building high-reliability through teamwork might give some indication as to where EHF should fit in achieving and maintaining organisational safety, though research has some way to go in translating this theory into practice.(5)
Further information
1. The [Baker] Report of the BP US Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel, 2007. www.safetyreviewpanel.com.
2. Sinclair, MA (2007). Ergonomic issues in future systems. Ergonomics, 50, 12, 1957-1986.
3. Burke CS, Wilson KA, and Salas E, 2005. The use of a team-based strategy for organizational transformation: guidance for moving toward a high reliability organization. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 6(6), 509-530.
4. Brusberg A, 2008. Presenting the value of Human Factors Integration: guidance, arguments and evidence. Cognition, Technology and Work, 10: 181-189.
5. Healey AN, Catchpole K, and Yule S, 2008. Enhancing surgical systems. Cognition, Technology and Work, 10, 4, 251-254.

Recycling furniture: an enterprising solution for redundant office items
Colin Crooks, CEO and founder of Green-Works (www.green-works.co.uk) looks at the benefits of disposing of furniture in an environmentally sensitive way.
It’s almost impossible to avoid the economic downturn at the moment and you can’t pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without being overwhelmed by the daunting facts and figures that the media presents. This has obviously had a knock-on effect on confidence for companies that have been forced to reconsider every aspect of their operation in an effort to cut costs. But life goes on, especially in business and despite tight market conditions we all still need products and services, it’s just that we now expect more from our providers than ever before.
This is particularly true when it comes to the removal of redundant office furniture. The economic downturn has meant that some companies are sitting tight deciding to stay put and ride out the financial storm. But others, who are looking to cut operating costs during the economic downturn, are actively looking to downsize their premises. More than 45,000* companies moved premises last year and it’s expected that this figure will continue to rise during the coming months. But whilst cost is an increasingly important consideration, businesses are still conscious of their social and environmental impact. We all understand that these issues are not simply going to go away over night, and so facilities managers in particular face a delicate balancing act between cost and climate.
The removal and disposal of redundant office furniture can be a minefield when it comes to balancing cost against CSR. But understanding the issues surrounding the responsible removal of your unwanted items is key to ticking all of the boxes.
How can furniture have an impact?
Each year in the UK, it’s estimated that more than 500,000 tonnes of furniture is sent to landfill at an approximate cost of £16million to Britain’s businesses. But whilst this comes at an obvious financial cost to companies it also has a significant cost for the environment. Often, even though these items no longer have a use for the organisation disposing of them, they are still in good condition and so businesses should carefully consider the impact that their redundant office furniture could have if it was given a new lease of life.
In order for a company’s unwanted items to go on and do the most good, it’s important to choose your recycling contractors carefully. A lot of companies offering a service in this field are highly selective about the furniture that they will collect and the rest has had to go to landfill. However there are companies out there, such as Green-Works that will actively look to redistribute your furniture and equipment to either UK businesses in the third sector such as charities, schools and not-for-profit organisations, or to developing countries overseas. These types of organisations and third world countries cannot afford good quality new furniture and in many cases even second hand furniture is out of reach.
Green-Works also provide real employment and skills training for people from marginalised backgrounds By reusing the furniture Green-Works can create a range of opportunities for such people from stock control to customer service, from sales to accounting. This makes a difference to local communities and puts the furniture donor in a good light. So by working closely with an organisation that will ensure your redundant items reach and impact upon these worthy causes, your company will not simply be disposing of your unwanted furniture in an environmentally responsible manner, you will also be helping to make an immeasurable difference to people’s lives.
How can redundant furniture be responsibly removed?
When disposed of responsibly, unwanted items can follow any number of routes from recycling to remanufacture. You may immediately think that the best route for your unwanted items to take would be to recycle them. Whilst recycling is a viable and successful route for unwanted or disposed-of items, reusing or remanufacturing uses far less energy and conserves valuable natural resources and should therefore be pursued wherever possible if your redundant items are going to go on and have the widest possible environmental and social impact.
At Green-Works any redundant items that can be re-used are sorted upon arrival at their warehouse. Some of these items are re-sold to charities, individuals and small businesses at reduced rates, creating a source of high quality office furniture at affordable prices, whilst also providing employment opportunities through the warehouses. With the support of our corporate partners, other re-usable items are shipped overseas where they aid in the reconstruction of some of Africa’s poorest countries. Green-Works’ efforts in Sierra Leone for example, has provided much needed furniture for schools, hospitals and government buildings and helped in the regeneration and rebuilding of this war-torn nation.
Green-Works looks to maximise the amount of furniture that can be reused and does not focus exclusively on the better quality and nearly new products. Through its extensive network of not for profit organisations it has re-housed large quantities of older but functional furniture to organisations struggling on very tight budgets. In addition Green-Works has a unique remanufacturing centre that makes recycled original furniture from redundant desk tops and wardrobes. In terms of the environment remanufacturing is second only to reuse and also ensures that the lifecycle of your redundant items is extended.
Finally those items which cannot be re-used have to be disposed of in some way. For Green-Works, landfill is not an option and they work very hard to find innovative routes to avoid that outcome. For example, the Green-Works facility in Wolverhampton takes any material that cannot be re-used or re-manufactured and grinds it down into fuel, which provides heat and hot-water for an old Victorian school building that has been renovated to offer a range of much needed services and community facilities.
The benefits for your business
So you can see that your redundant items can take any number of routes once they have been removed and it’s important that you work with an organisation that will ensure your furniture can go on to have the most positive social and environmental impact. Contractors that can fulfil multiple requirements and provide a comprehensive service, incorporating consideration for the environment, social benefits, affordability and professionalism, will not only provide an effective service but also help to impact positively on your company.
From boosting staff morale to helping you to demonstrate your ethical credentials, your furniture can do a lot of good. But evidence is essential if you are going to back up your claims and Green-Works recognises that a comprehensive audit trail is vital for managers who have to report their activities and the final destinations of their redundant equipment. For this reason our customers receive in-depth quarterly reports to help them to track their furniture. This means that managers can track exactly where their furniture has gone and who it has helped along the way. This allows businesses to pass this information along to staff, enabling the workforce to benefit from the knowledge that their desk has found a new home in an African school or their chair has found its way to a local charity.
A sustainable solution to a national problem
When offices relocate or get refurbished, there is generally a mass of furniture that needs to be disposed of and whether it’s resold, recycled or reused it can provide a logistical nightmare for businesses. This redundant equipment could take any number of paths once it has been removed and it’s important that you choose to work with an organisation that can meet your needs for both the professional and efficient removal of all the equipment as well as helping to reduce the environmental impact of the process.
Green-Works is an environmental charity and social enterprise that manages and recycles office furniture on an industrial scale. More information about furniture removal or provision can be found by calling 0845 2302 231 or by visiting www.green-works.co.uk.
· BT

Steelcase introduces the Eastside Beam, versatile and functional
In the Year of Smart Space, Steelcase, global leaders in the office furniture industry, underlined the importance of functionality in furniture design as it launched the newest edition to their simple and versatile Eastside seating range, the Eastside Beam.
Kim Williams, Product Marketing Manager for Steelcase UK said: “Eastside Beam is an ideal example of a functional yet stylish seating product. With removable arm rests and soft furnishing the Eastside Beam is ideal for reception and waiting areas. It has been developed with versatility and comfort in mind, with the option of adding between two to four seats and the addition of a tabletop.”
Kim continued: “Efficient office products are essential to business which is why we are providing customers and dealers with products that are versatile, functional and maximise space but also retain the quality, good looks and high performance that Steelcase is renowned for”.
In line with Steelcase’s longstanding commitment to sustainable design and the environment, the Eastside Beam has been made with limited components and a reduced number of low energy materials.

Leading specialist hospital refurbishment
David Bailey Furniture Systems was specified by architects Watkins Gray International to supply fitted furniture for a series of refurbishment projects undertaken by construction company Mansell at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust (GOSH).
The specialist children’s hospital has seen fitted furniture to the value of £371,000 installed in many of the hospital’s main wards and reception areas.
Specialist Children’s Hospital Furniture
The first phase of refurbishment included the Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (PICU and NICU); the Dental and Maxillofacial Department; the Medical Illustration Offices; the Safari Day Care Centre for Haematology and Oncology; and the Louise, Penguin and Rainforest Wards in the Southwood Building.
In addition to the base and wall storage units, worktops and shelving prescribed from the Healthline range, David Bailey Furniture Systems also supplied custom-made nurse stations for the hospital’s reception areas.
Mansell’s Site Manager for the Great Ormond Street Hospital installation, commented: “As this refurbishment project incorporated such a range of areas in the hospital, it was important to select a furniture supplier that was able to offer a diverse product range. David Bailey Furniture Systems’ high quality storage units and custom-made pieces fitted the bill.”
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children Refurbishment
Founded in 1852 as the first hospital in the UK dedicated to children, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust (GOSH) has grown to become one of Europe’s leading centres of excellence for the provision of specialist children’s healthcare.
GOSH was the first institution in the UK to offer inpatient care to children only and today offers 29 wards and 335 beds. With the widest range of children’s specialists under one roof in the UK, GOSH treats over 22,000 inpatients and 77,000 outpatients every year.
To complete the first phase of this specialist children’s hospital refurbishment project, David Bailey worked with construction company, Mansell.
Mansell www.constructingcommunities.com

Clear vision for the future
Colin Brookes of Clear Cleaning started working as a window cleaner way back in 1978 – but things have changed a lot since then!
He and Richard Emmanuel formed Clear Cleaning in 1994, building on an already successful partnership that began with an early-morning interview:
“Colin interviewed me at about 5.30 am in a café somewhere in Deptford,” says Richard. “I’d never cleaned windows before, but Colin took a chance, gave me a crash course, and dropped me at a school in Surrey with a two part ladder! It was scary stuff, but I managed. However, I’m glad to say Health and Safety is a much bigger factor in the business these days.”
The Beginning
At first their jobs were mostly piece work, averaging about £60 each. Mitcham Town Hall was probably their biggest contract.. “We both ended up working with a company that cleaned chandeliers as well as windows,” says Colin. “We did that for 6 years or so, and learned quite a bit about the cleaning and maintaining of chandeliers.”
In 1994 Colin and Richard, realizing they could offer a better service than most of the companies they worked for, approached The Princes Youth Business Trust and asked for a loan of £3,500.00.
“We were given a dedicated business advisor,” Colin remembers, “and with honesty, hard work and the assistance of our long-term employees we gradually built up a thriving business.”
Their first office was a purpose-built timber shed with a veranda at the back of Richard Emmanuel’s house. Its fourteen square feet housed four hard-working bodies, and many late nights were spent doing paperwork, following long, hard days cleaning windows. A highlight of this time was taking part in a London Weekend Television documentary called dangerous jobs.
Health and Safety Demands
Dave Allen, a member of the London Weekend Television crew, introduced Colin and Richard to the issues of Health and Safety, and assisted them in the preparation of their first Risk & Method Statements. This was valuable experience, and it laid a solid foundation for their appreciation of the importance of safety.
“Today we employ the services of an external consultant who Audits the Met Police Authority,” says Colin. “We also get a great deal of support from Andrew Willis, a leading working at height consultant for Time Consultancy. Andrew sits on the Federation of Window Cleaners Safety Advisory Committee and is a trainer and NVQ2 assessor with Linden Management and Merton College.”
So What Makes Clear Cleaning Tick?
Colin and Richard believe that any company that wants to be successful must be motivated by the desire to provide quality work, and must have the ability to make profits. “That has to be the foundation,” says Colin. “We’ve put that philosophy into practice, and our growth has been steady throughout the years, and has always been self funded.”
For Clear Cleaning, the customer is king. “It’s hard work to attract and secure new business, so we treat our clients royally, and we never stop listening to them,” says Colin. “That’s one of my main messages: in difficult economic times like these, many MDs and CEOs become insular, ignoring customers and turning their focus to internal operational challenges. That’s a huge mistake. As a result, they disconnect themselves from the best source of current revenue, and from future success.”
Colin maintains that teamwork and staff development are also vital factors. “We pride ourselves on being one big family, and we are dedicated to our team. We encourage everyone to aim for higher levels of achievement through Merton College’s NVQ2 Window Cleaning Course, and this is already paying dividends. Everyone at Clear is now able to think of new ways to solve problems, and we’ve seen a significant improvement in staff attitude.”
The Importance of Advertising
During a recession, many small businesses cut back the amount spent on advertising. Colin sees that as a fundamental error. “All the signs point the other way. It’s vital to maintain current spend, and advertising and promotional campaigns should be undertaken throughout the recession period. At Clear we make it a priority to demonstrate our company's value and stability at every opportunity, and you do that through advertising.“
Clear in 2009 and Beyond
Throughout 2009 Clear will continue to promote its new corporate branding and will keep customers informed of exciting developments such as the Rope Access Suspension Trolley – the first of its kind in the UK to be CE marked. “When you reach more people, you get more customers,” says Colin.
In 2009 Clear will move to new premises. “This will give us more scope for growth and provide us with storage for the new systems and equipment that we are bringing onto line. It will also give us a firm base for further growth, so we can continue to provide our customers and principal contractors with the high standards of service they have become accustomed to, living up to our company motto: ‘you’re only as good as your last job.’”

For further information on Clear Contact…
Clear Cleaning Limited. 08454 004111
richard@clearcleaning.co.uk