Ireland's Plumbing and Heating Magazine Issue100

NEWS

CIFDISMAYATEXTENDED CONSTRUCTION LOCKDOWN g The Construction Industry Federation has strongly rebuked the Irish Government’s decision to extend its lockdown of parts of the construction industry to April 5. HSE monitoring has consistently shown negligible levels of Covid-19 cases associated with the construction industry. However, the sector will likely remain substantially closed aside from current exemptions. In a statement, CIF said, “The industry is an international exemplar of safety and operating

Michael O’Donohoe, President HAI

under Covid-19 and has proven it can operate at full capacity without contributing to the spread of Covid-19 in the community. The extension of the partial lockdown in construction will now see 800 homes per week taken out of

NEWPRESIDENTFORHAI

g Michael O’Donohoe, Country Director at Wavin Ireland, is the new HAI President for 2021-2022. Well-known and respected in the industry, Michael has been on the board of HAI since early 2017 and he has been Country Director of Wavin for the last six years. Prior to joining Wavin, Michael worked for nearly 20 years in sales and marketing roles in various sectors. Aside from his role in HAI, Michael has other links to the construction sector through his chair of both the Building Materials Federation and the Irish Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association, as well as membership of the Construction Industry Council. Michael has a B.Sc. in Applied Sciences from Trinity College, an M.Sc. in Executive Leadership from the University of Ulster and is also a member of both the Marketing Institute of Ireland and the Institute of Directors. In his new role as President of the HAI, Michael aims to widen the association’s membership while also keeping the focus on representing members’ interests and trying to positively influence government policies. For HAI membership enquiries, call: +353 (0)1 298 0969 or visit: www.hardwareassociation.ie

supply. Over 60,000 construction employees are now on PUP and thousands of their jobs are permanently threatened. “Since January 4, the industry has been operating at approximately 40% capacity with minimal cases on sites even whilst the new variant of Covid-19 has spiked in the community.” The CIF said it will continue to press the Government to consider the industry’s safety record and the wider evidence and allow the industry to reopen entirely at the earliest date. www.cif.ie

WEARABLESOCIALDISTANCEMONITORFORSITEWORKERS g WorkSpace has just launched the WorkSafe Spacer – a ground-breaking device that helps keep worksite users safe by sounding the alarm when another wearer comes within the two metre Covid-19 safe distance. vibration or audio mode to suit any work environment or individual need and the device can also log contacts to provide fast contact tracing in the event of a reported exposure.

An innovative social distancing monitor, the lightweight, wearable Safe Spacer™ is helping businesses to reopen safely and create a Covid-secure workplace. With a compact design, the WorkSafe Spacer can be worn on a wristband, belt loop or lanyard and can adapt to any workplace,

The device uses cutting-edge ultra- wideband radio-frequency technology to achieve precise distancing and is up to 10 times more accurate than traditional Bluetooth. For more information, email: info@globalworksafe.co.uk or visit www.globalworksafe.co.uk

The WorkSafe Spacer social distancing monitor.

without compromising existing safety protocols. There’s a choice of visual,

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PLUMBING & HEATING MAGAZINE | 61

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