News
Launch of multi-million pound engineering institute in Derby University of Derby
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Derby’s leading engineers and advanced manufacturers launched their vision to make the city the world leader in making high-value and top quality products on Thursday, June 26.
Key players from the city’s manufacturing industry were among the 70-plus guests at the unveiling of the multi-million pound Institute for Innovation in Sustainable Engineering (IISE) at Lonsdale House.
A high-quality research and development centre, the IISE is the University of Derby’s latest investment to support advanced manufacturing in the city.
It is supported by Rolls-Royce, car manufacturer Toyota and train maker Bombardier and is specifically designed to support small and medium-sized businesses in the area.
Professor Richard Hall, Director of the IISE, said: “This is a hugely significant and important development for engineering and manufacturing in Derby and the region. The IISE brings together the skills and experience of the University of Derby collaboratively with those of leading businesses from across the area.
“All the people who attended, without exception, have bought into our vision of creating a halfway house between academia and industry for mutual benefit. It is about research, skills and innovation and marrying all of those together for common goals.
“Derby was the fastest growing city in the country last year by GVA (gross value
added) and we want to further support and add value to local companies, providing them access to the latest research findings and advanced technologies.
“Institutes such as this are a relatively new idea, particularly for Derby city and the region and I think this is going to be instrumental in creating a sea change in local activity to reinforce that this is the best place in the world for making high-value products.”
Partnerships with machinery suppliers including DMG Mori Seiki, Renishaw, Eley Metrology, World Viz and Creat3d mean that the Institute has the very latest technological resources available to provide cutting edge solutions to business challenges.
The IISE is headed by Professor Hall, who has an international reputation in aerospace, automotive and high-value manufacturing industries.
The University will invest £10m in the Institute and £3m has been added by industry, as well as a further £30m-worth of successful bids, including one from the Regional Growth Fund.
90% of small businesses unaware they are required to conduct a fire risk assessment
FireUK.co.uk
Businesses are 'playing Russian roulette with fire safety' putting employees and customers at risk as companies unaware of need for fire risk assessment
Nine-tenths of Britain's small companies are putting their customers, employees and members of the public at risk because they are unaware that they need to carry out a fire risk assessment.
These are the disturbing findings of a national fire risk assessment company which has uncovered what it calls a 'blind spot' among small business owners who don't seem to think that safety legislation applies to them.
FireUK.co.uk found a disturbing number of companies that regularly have members of the public on their premises which do not have the necessary risk assessments in place and have no named 'responsible person' responsible for fire safety.
"We're shocked to the core by these figures," said
FireUK.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall, "We thought we'd find a few companies that fell outside the law, not whole sectors of small business playing Russian roulette with people's lives."
In a telephone survey of over 500 small businesses employing fewer than ten people carried out by
FireUK.co.uk:
- 90% said they were unaware they needed a fire risk assessment for their premises
- 86% of small office businesses were unaware of the need
- 39% of pub landlords were unaware of the need for a fire risk assessment
"The fact that some pubs don't know the law is terrifying," said
FireUK.co.uk s Mark Hall, "they're playing with fire, quite literally. There's a huge blind spot among business owners who don't know where their responsibilities lie."
In the course of its survey,
FireUK.co.uk found that some business owners were unaware that fire safety laws applied to
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them. This was particularly the case in smaller rented business units where they assumed that the owners of the premises were ultimately responsible.
Others, sadly, thought that safety was a secondary consideration when budgets were tight, while others put their trust in their staff escaping from a fire of their own initiative.
Among the explanations heard from business owners were: "We're renting this space. Surely that's not our problem?" "I thought it only applies to big companies" "We haven't got the money for that kind of thing" "We've only got a couple of staff, they'll get out alright"
"I work from an office at the bottom of my garden, I'm not sure what the law is."
"That's a mixture of ignorance, confusion over the regulations and sheer wilful neglect," said Hall. "Some of the confusion's understandable, but there's no excuse for some of the behaviour we've discovered."
The law requires that:
- All employers, business owners, or landlords take responsibility for fire safety in the workplace
- The so-called 'responsible person' must carry out fire reviews, identify risks and put safety measures in place
- Failure to do so can result in fines or even prison
Over 80 per cent of companies who were told of the legal requirements said they would put something in place as soon as they could.
"Fire safety's not difficult for the huge majority of small businesses," said Mark Hall, "In most cases, all it takes is a phone call and a single inspection and training visit."
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shirley@qubeonline.co.uk Q 021
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