Product category:
Building Industry Health and Safety
News Release from: Berry Systems | Subject: Berry Systems focus on safety
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 14 October 2005
Berry Systems focus on safety
The Institution of Civil Engineers publish guidelines for the inspection, maintenance and management of existing multi-storey car parks as well as the design of new ones.
Practising what they preach - the Berry Systems focus on safety In this age of the car, parking can be the bane of our lives
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 30 May 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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The time spent looking for spaces, the frustration of queueing up to get into, and even to get out of, a multi-storey car park, all adds to the stress of 21st century living.
But, despite all that, we take the safety of car parks as read.
We assume that everything that can be done to protect us has been done, while we get on with cursing and swearing at the aggravations of parking our most prized possession.
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To an extent our assumptions are well founded.
Although many of the concrete monstrosities blighting our picturesque town centres were built nearly 40 years ago, much attention has been paid in recent years to the physical state of these car parks and the safety of the environment within them.
The Institution of Civil Engineers has published guidelines for the inspection, maintenance and management of existing multi-storey car parks as well as the design of new ones.
Many of these recommendations relate to the safety barriers - or crash barriers as most people wrongly call them.
Whether the barriers are placed on the top deck to stop cars from crashing off the roof, or just to protect people using the ticket machines, a considerable amount of research has been done to define the minimum performance required in different circumstances and the specifications of the systems needed to meet these criteria.
But, if you take any multi-storey car park in the UK at random, the chances are the safety barriers were designed, made and installed by just one company - Berry Systems.
Based in Bilston, near Wolverhampton, Berry have worked closely with all the major companies, institutions and people involved in the car park market over the last 30 years.
Their focus on safety led them, in the early 1970s, to develop (and patent) a unique, flexible, spring steel barrier system that has set the standards for 'off highway' vehicle barriers ever since.
Typically the system uses a standard 'W' section flexible barrier rail mounted on spring steel buffers.
The unique energy absorbing properties of the spring steel enable the system to cope with slow speed impacts not only from cars but even 40 tonne HGVs.
In consequence, Berry is now almost as popular in heavy goods vehicle yards, warehouses and distribution centres as it is in multi-storey car parks.
The relevant British Standard for car park barriers is BS6399 but this is gradually being superceded by recommendations from the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers and government sponsored reports from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
In particular the recommended height for barriers has recently been raised to allow for the rise in average vehicle bumper height - a statistic affected by the popularity of 4 x 4 'all terrain' vehicles.
Additionally, better protection for pedestrians is now required.
The Berry Spring Steel system can easily cope with different rail heights, including the new recommendations, and the company has developed a series of options for handrails and mesh infills including a combined beam and balustrade configuration.
These provide excellent pedestrian protection together with the renowned, impact absorbing vehicle barrier.
In 1999 Berry Systems became part of Hill and Smith Holdings and now forms a key part of their Infrastructure Products Group which includes among others, Barkers Fencing, Varley and Gulliver, Asset International and Brifen as well as Hill and Smith .
Managing Director Mike Fellows explains their philosophy "Berry Systems is committed to continuous product development and a recognition of the responsibilities borne by companies producing safety related products".
"This means we're always striving to increase the performance of our barriers and will only guarantee our products if they've been installed by ourselves, or one of our approved contractors".
"Quality of design, manufacture and installation go hand in hand and are all mutually dependent".
"So, to take responsibility for the performance of our products in situ we must have control over all aspects of the project." This insistence on maximum safety even extends to the working practices of their installation teams".
"There's no point us preaching about the importance of safety if we don't practise it ourselves" continues Mike Fellows".
"All our crews are fully H and S compliant and we support the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS)".
"We also work in conjunction with the Aims Safety Group who are employed as independent health and safety advisors".
"They regularly monitor site operations".
This 'safety first' approach has certainly paid off for Berry.
They operate from a 4,000m2 factory in the heart of the West Midlands with easy access to both the M5 and M6.
The company's product range has grown to include a number of ancillary products like bollards, speed restraints and a full complement of barriers for interior use to protect plant and personnel from fork lift trucks, pallet trucks and similar industrial vehicles.
Again their safety conscious philosophy spills over into product development.
The new Sainsbury's Hams Hall Distribution Centre features a specially designed Berry system to guard against the forks of a lift truck from coming under the barrier and harming people who thought they were in a safe area.
It's encouraging to find a market where safety has not been sacrificed to the incessant demands of price reduction, leading to degradation of standards and specifications.
That doesn't mean that Berry are not fiercely price competitive.
They use their economies of scale to good effect and are able to keep costs down and maintain standards.
Their track record in this market proves that few, if any, have the resources to match them.
But what of the future? Mike Fellows again: "As a society we are becoming more and more safety conscious".
"Standards for vehicle safety barriers will only get stricter, as will the health and safety aspects of installing them".
"Berry Systems will continue to develop products to meet, or often to pre-empt these requirements".
"We will demonstrate that the safe way isn't just the right way - it's the only way if you want to protect your customers, employees, plant and equipment from damage, and protect your board of directors from litigation!".
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