What a busy few months we all have ahead of us. Bauma 2025, of course, is the major event in the construction industry calendar, being held in Munich in April, but we also have ICE Expo 2025, hailed as Ireland’s largest construction & plant equipment show to look forward to at Punchestown Racecourse in May, in addition to a major workplace health conference in Belfast.
Many of us will also be looking forward to the Construction Employers Federation’s 80th anniversary, being marked with a gala dinner at Titanic Belfast in March. It will celebrate Northern Ireland’s construction heritage and look to the future of the industry here.
We report on all of those events in this issue, as well as focusing on a number of companies who are making their mark here, including WR Kennedy and Creagh Concrete, and in other news, we hear from Volvo Construction Equipment who has unveiled its biggest and boldest articulated hauler launch to date and JCB who are celebrating a major machine milestone with the production of its one millionth backhoe loader.
Good news, too, is that Ireland recorded its lowest ever rate of work-related fatalities in 2024 according to provisional data published by the Health and Safety Authority. The construction sector, in particular, saw a significant decline from 10 fatalities in 2023 to 5 in 2024.
Our ‘view from the cab’ this month focuses on a new 2.5 tonne zero tail swing JCB and a new generation EC500 crawler excavator from Volvo CE.
Meanwhile, it’s well done to the Lighthouse Charity who once again set new records over the past year, reaching more people and delivering more support than ever before, with its helpline advisors and case workers delivering an amazing £4.98m of charitable support to 5695 families who reached out for help through the charity’s free and confidential service.
Well, that’s it for now, but remember, you can keep up to date with all the industry news 24/7 by logging on to our website at www.plantandcivilengineer.com Of course, you should also be getting our weekly newsletter which is emailed out every Tuesday; if not, do subscribe on our website so you don’t miss out. It’s FREE!
David Stokes
Editor Email: [email protected]
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