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ISG Completes John Lewis Birmingham Shop

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ISG has given the 140,000 passengers that daily pass through the revamped Birmingham New Street Station the perfect excuse for some retail therapy after completing a fit out of the eagerly anticipated 250,000sq ft John Lewis shop that sits above this key transport hub. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Continue Reading

Construction Workers Second Most Likely To Risk Their Health Because Of Work

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A new study conducted on behalf of a UK-based medical website has revealed that three quarters of the British public will risk their health by not going to doctors appointments because of work commitments or being too busy within their careers. Furthermore, the study revealed that the sectors most likely to risk their health because of their work commitments was those working in marketing and the media, construction workers and food and hospitality professionals.

In a bid to discover more about how seriously Britons take their health and how much of a priority it is, a new piece of research undertaken on behalf of an online pharmaceutical company has revealed how often the average Briton will risk their health because of other commitments and which sectors sacrifice workers health the most.

A survey conducted by www.MedExpress.co.uk polled a total of 2,129 UK based adults, aged 18-65, for the purposes of the study. Each participant stated they were in full time work and were asked a series of questions to discover how high health ranks in terms of their everyday lives.

Respondents were initially asked when the last time they had visited their local doctors surgery for an appointment with a nurse of their GP, with the average length of time emerging as 8 months. Following this participants were asked how long they had waited to be seen by their doctor last time they booked an appointment. 62% of individuals revealed that they had to wait over 2 weeks to be seen for reassurance and answers related to their health concerns. These individuals were then asked if the doctor’s appointment was even needed after waiting 2 weeks, with 18% admitting that they cancelled their appointment as they were better or the problem had disappeared by the time they were due to see the doctor.’

Continuing on from this, participants were asked if they have ever had to cancel or decline offered appointments due to other commitments, with 90% stating that they had previously done so. These respondents were asked to provide the most common reason they’d had to cancel an appointment. Over three quarters (76%) stated they had work commitments that they could not get out of, whilst 19% stated childcare prevented them from visiting the doctors.

Following this, all individuals taking part in the study were asked how often they found themselves having to miss doctor’s appointments because of work commitments, with the average participants revealing that they’d missed an average of 3 appointments within the past year. Furthermore, 22% of participants who’d missed an appointment due to work commitments admitted that they’d had a problem that would’ve needed immediate treatment and became more serious.

Participants were then asked if they had ever left prescriptions uncollected with 59% stating they had; 72% of these individuals stated it was due to their pharmacy only being open during work hours.

To understand which professions were most likely to sacrifice their health because of their job, those who missed appointments and couldn’t pick up prescriptions were asked what industry they worked in. The top 5 sectors that effectively choose to put their job first over their health were revealed as follows:

  1. Marketing and media- (14%)
  2. Construction- (8%)
  3. Food and hospitality- (8%)
  4. Healthcare- (6%)
  5. Education- (3%)

Micheal Ross, spokesperson for MedExpress.co.uk stated:

“Work is obviously an extremely important aspect of our lives; it is after all our primary source of income and allows us to contribute to society. However sacrificing something as important as your health can be detrimental and will no doubt have a negative effect on your career in the long term.”

He continued:

“Bosses and those in charge should be more lenient with time spent off for health reasons. People cannot help being ill and should be able to seek medical help when they need it and definitely should not feel forced to have to wait to see if their body starts mending itself. The most shocking fact we learnt from these findings is that even healthcare professionals risk their own health because of their long working hours and inability to get time off. These people should always take into consideration that for those with particularly hectic lives, there are services for existing prescriptions to be delivered to you so you don’t further risk your well-being.”

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ISGandrsquo;s Whitworth Scheme Pipped to RIBA Stirling Prize

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ISG’s extension and refurbishment of The Whitworth Gallery, designed by MUMA, missed out on taking the top prize in architecture last night – the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize 2015 – despite topping the architectural industry and BBC’s readers’ poll with 38 per cent of the popular vote. Burntwood School in Wandsworth was ultimately crowned winner on the night. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Continue Reading

Homeowners Warned of the Dangers of Radon Gas Through Basement Excavations and Conversions

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A new study conducted by leading experts in the field of radon gas management has revealed that more than three quarters of Britons with home extensions built underground are not aware of the dangers surrounding the gas radon prior to having the work carried out on their property, despite it being the second leading cause of lung cancer in the UK.

In a bid to raise awareness of the dangers of undetected radon, a new study aimed at highlighting how low the awareness of the gas is amongst the British public has revealed that the vast majority of homeowners who’ve undergone basement excavations or dig-down home extensions/conversions were not made aware of radon prior to the work taking place.

The team at www.propertECO.co.uk, a leading centre of expertise in the field of radon gas control, commissioned a poll of a total of 2,943 UK homeowners aged 25 and over. Each participant owned their own home and those polled were spread across each region of the UK evenly in order to generate as valid a set of results as possible.

Individuals were initially asked if they had ever paid to have either a basement excavation or dig-down extension carried out on their current or previous properties. Whilst just 2% of those polled had undertaken a basement excavation, more than one tenth (11%) of respondents admitted that they’d converted an existing basement on a property into a habitable space. Of those who’d undergone a dig-down extension, almost three fifths (58%) lived in the London or South-East regions of the UK. The average cost of a dig down extension was revealed to be £81,000, and took around 16 weeks to complete.

Of those respondents who’d had either had a basement excavation or conversion, less than one quarter (24%) had been warned by the builder or contractor carrying out the work on their property about the possibility of radon being an issue, with the remaining 76% completely unaware of radon and the risks associated with long term exposure.

Of the homeowners polled that had never had an underground extension or conversion, less than two fifths (39%) of these individuals were aware that radon could be potentially lethal to humans living in a house with elevated levels, and that it can cause lung cancer. The remaining 61% confessed to researchers that other than knowing radon was a chemical substance, they had no idea of its dangers and implications.

The British Standard ‘code of practice’ that should be followed when completing below ground waterproofing (something which all basement excavations or conversions require), states that radon should be taken into account in the design. This requirement has been in place since 2009, meaning any homeowners who have had basement extensions created in the last six years should have been made aware of radon.

Martin Freeman, MD of propertECO.co.uk, made the following comments regarding the findings of the study:

“Time and time again we hear stories of individuals who are completely unaware of radon and its associated risks, until it’s too late. It comes as a worrying statistic that so many homeowners who’ve made the decision to build under their properties are not given the facts on the dangers of radon exposure, and it is disappointing that building professionals are themselves either unaware of the requirements for protection under the British Standard, or simply choosing to ignore them. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that comes from the ground and can enter properties. Long term exposure to high levels of radon can lead to lung cancer, and it is responsible for around 2000 lung cancer deaths in the UK every year.”

“Properties with basements are at increased risk, so it is very important that when new basements are being created, radon is taken into consideration to ensure a safe environment for the occupants. The only way to know if a building is affected is to carry out a radon test using a special detector upon occupation, which is why our team is so passionate about raising its awareness to homeowners up and down the UK. Basements can provide valuable extra living space and are an excellent way of extending a home, however they must be created in a way that ensures they are safe to occupy.”

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