NATIONWIDE SAFETY AND UKSSH STAY (VERY) COOL UNDER PRESSURE!

Established in 2010, Nationwide Safety is an award-winning company specialising in delivering fully compliant safety and access systems for working at height.

One of their recent projects was located within a large freezer store which maintains a constant temperature of -25°C, the suspended ceiling of which needed to be replaced along the entire length of the building while keeping the freezer operational.

The initial stage of the project required Nationwide Safety to create a safe work environment by building temporary support towers with bridges spanning the underside of the worst affected ceiling panels – a solution designed by Creator Scaffold Design.

Once the support towers and bridges had been installed and handed over, the main works could commence to install the 1400sqm crash deck 12m above ground level, including props above the deck to provide additional support to the underside of the ceiling. This system was specifically designed to allow operatives to work safely above the ceiling to disconnect services etc and below the ceiling to safely remove and replace it.

In addition, there was an airlock area where the ceiling also needed to be replaced, requiring Nationwide Safety to span across this to provide support to the freezer ceiling while avoiding the freezer blowers and services that were staying in place.

The freezer had to remain in operation throughout the process so the project was split into 4 phases - enabling three blowers to stay active throughout the works to ensure the temperature was kept stable.

The crash decks were built at night (to minimise disruption to the operation of the client’s business) within the -25°C freezer. This required teams to wear specialised workwear designed to provide adequate protection for individuals working in freezers and cold stores and to work in short stints of up to an hour to minimise exposure to the cold temperatures.

 

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