Totty Construction - Leisure Development - Leeds, Clarence Dock

Date: 02 Dec 2005

Totty Construction has expanded the use of traditional fall arrest air mats on its £4.7 million project to construct a new Express by Holiday Inn in Leeds. The northern-based main contractor has employed the air mats in an innovative configuration at the Clarence Dock redevelopment scheme to prevent falls from height when materials are unloaded at the site.

By fixing the air mats together into a 'u' shape, Totty Construction has created a vehicle docking system at the site, enabling operatives to unload materials from wagons both safely and efficiently. Dr David Resendez, group health & safety manager for Totty Construction, commented: "Off site manufacture represents a major element of this project and from the very outset we looked into a robust fall arrest system that would protect workers from falls from height during complex unloading procedures.

"As a passive system, the innovative use of existing technology enables the protection to be in place immediately the wagon arrives on site, without the need for workers to use harness based arrest systems, which bring additional safety management issues into the equation. A further benefit of this solution is the improved mobility of operatives as their movements are no longer restricted with traditional active harness-based systems."

Work on the new six-storey, 130-bed hotel commenced early August, with completion scheduled by July 2006. The hotel will feature a range of meeting rooms, dining room and banquet bar area. Externally, Totty is creating a number of car parking spaces and hard landscaping finishes.

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