Advanced Industrial Solutions to Work at Heights

What comes to your mind when you look at a new skyscraper being constructed? Huge cranes, forklifts, scaffolding, many kinds of ladders and temporary stairs etc.

For a new entrant in the construction industry to understand what ladders, stairs, and scaffolds are, can be an overwhelming experience. Even if you have been in the industry for long, you would appreciate the experience and knowledge you have gathered over time to learn the benefits for using such equipment definitely helps in creating a safer, healthier and comfortable working environment for your construction workers.

Various types of scaffolding and stairs are available for construction workers to use. You will be surprised to know how utilizing the right type of equipment for your construction site could help you to build smarter, safer and quicker.

ProjectLink has gathered a list of smart solutions for working at heights that could help you to create a better and safer environments for your workers.

Aluminium Stairway

Ladders always carry the risk of falling or associated construction hazards. In order to reduce such risks, shifting to using safety stairways has a lot of merit. One of the popular additions in ProjectLink’s database, Aluminium Stairways from Global Scaffold, are a considerable option for construction site safety stairways. These stairways are lightweight, durable, and safe, and eliminate the need for ladders on site. These safety stairways are compatible with A-frame Scaffolds and Quick Scarf, and the side trails improves the work efficiency and makes them a safe option for the workers.

Find out more and request a quote for these Aluminium Stairways »

Mobile Towers

While use of ladders can work fine for lower floors, using ladders for work on second or higher floors is neither easy nor safe. In such situations, switching to scaffold towers is the perfect solution for your construction site, and even for any DIY project. Erecting scaffold towers to desired heights is quite simple, and these are very easy to deploy at different sites.

One of the popular scaffold towers in the market, is Mobile Towers. These towers come with adjustable scaffold castors with locking brakes and they carry a 450kg load rating (the maximum permitted on Aluminium Mobile Scaffold Towers). Moreover, these lightweight Mobile Towers come with a LIFETIME GUARANTEE.

Find out more about Aluminium Mobile Towers and know about their free deliveries »

Home Flooring Ideas that will Add the ‘Wow’ Factor

Planning a home renovation?

Why not give your home a glamorous look this time, and make it world’s best place to live in. All you need is the right flooring, as it is the key to enhance the appearance of any house. It can make a room look larger or smaller, elegant or funky, vintage or ultra modern, or anything that you desire it to be. However, beyond the style and looks, choice of floorings has other considerations too, including, their performance factors, durability, cost factor, and your lifestyle etc.

So, before you just pick a style and opt for the flooring according to that, have a look at our top 5 flooring options with their advantages and disadvantages.

Hardwood Flooring

Use of hardwood floors really gives you the sense of being close to the nature, and that is the foremost reason for one to consider hardwood flooring. The natural looks and warmth underneath your feet, make it timeless and most attractive choice among all the other floorings options for home.

Since ancient times, original hardwood floors have always been the first choice of traditional homes in Australia,. However, higher cost can be a factor to distract any builder away from it, more towards the artificial wood look-like options. Further, the original wood flooring is losing its popularity due to deforestation concerns as well.

However, if you are a hardwood floor admirer and don’t want to go on the wrong side of nature, you can exercise another viable option that's available. Reclaimed wood is the ideal solution for the eco-friendly hardwood flooring, as it re-uses the existing wood from the old trees which were chopped down a really long time ago. So, you can still make your traditional home or beach house look as beautiful as you want, with the salvaged wood.

Pros

• Extremely durable and can be sanded and refinished many times over the period of their lifetime
• Sturdy, very easy to clean, and wear resistant
• Earthy yet classic looks

Cons

• High cost and labour intensive to install
• Might shrink or expand according to the seasonal temperature
• Does not retain heat or damper sound

Laminate Flooring

If you are working with a strict budget for your flooring plan, you can always go in for laminate flooring, and achieve a hardwood or stone appearance. Over the past few years, the laminate flooring has emerged as a strong alternative of traditional flooring.

Laminate flooring is made of multi-layers of synthetic material that is fused together with a lamination technique. The biggest advantage of such flooring is that it can simulate almost everything you want, including, wood, stone, pictures, and nowadays 3D arts too.

Pros

• Low cost, easy and quick to install
• Huge range of variety to opt for
• Durable and easy to maintain
• Water resistant
• Burn, scratches, and chipping resistance surface
• Simple and easy to replace without damaging the existing floor

Cons

• Difficult to repair, and can get scratched off easily
• Hard, slippery, and does not absorb sound

Vinyl Flooring

Similar to the laminate flooring, the vinyl flooring also offers a variety of looks, from natural wood to stone flooring. This is synthetic polymer flooring with added pigmentations for coloring. Unlike any other artificial flooring options, this one offers your a fairly soft platform underneath your feet and does not fade quickly.

Pros

• Very low cost and easy to install
• Durable, flexible, and the texture would last long
• Easy to clean and maintain
• Water resistant

Cons

• It is an artificial flooring made of synthetic polymer, which can emit volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) into the air, over a period of time
• Too soft to resist scratches, and chipping
• Hard to repair once it is gauged

Bamboo Flooring

The eco-friendly flooring solution is now becoming one of the strongest competitors of the traditional hardwood flooring. The natural texture, durability, and elegant looks, with a variety of colors ranging from honey brown to light tan, make this flooring stand out of the crowd.

If you are looking for greener, yet classy solution for your home, bamboo flooring could be the best choice. The flooring can help you achieve the traditional wooden appearance with a strong surface.
 

Pros

• Fast growing and eco-friendly flooring solution
• Cost efficient and easy to install
• Hypoallergenic: Does not trigger any kind of allergies
• Remarkably durable, easy to maintain and clean
• Doesn’t scuff or scratch

Cons

• The color texture may be affected over the time or due to sun exposure
• Susceptible to water damage
• Comparatively thinner than hardwood flooring

Cork Flooring

Cork flooring is the latest trend in the market. This is a great eco-friendly solution for nature lovers, who want to have a natural appearance inside their home but at the price of chopped down trees. Cork is harvested from the bark of the cork oak trees (largely found in the Mediterranean forests). Tree aren’t cut down in the process of harvesting the barks, and these barks usually grow back in 2 - 3 years.

The cork flooring is highly sustainable solution for your home that would give your house a natural earthy yet elegant look.

Pros

• Highly sustainable, and eco-friendly
• Durable and can last approx. 30 years
• Heat and sound insulation
• “Springs -back” from wear and tears
• Stain and mildew resistant
• Natural insect repellent
• Anti-microbial properties that reduce allergens
• Anti-bacterial

Cons

• Hard to refinish
• Can absorb water if not properly finished
• More expensive than other flooring options in the market

While all the flooring will have pros and cons associated with them, it is really your preferences that define what would be the ‘perfect’ flooring for your home. If you are looking for more options, do check out ProjectLink’s complete list flooring material, with 18 unique options, including, bamboo, carpet, stone and floorboards. So, go on, listen to your instincts, and pick the perfect flooring that would assign that unique appearance to your home.

Source: https://www.projectlink.com.au/blog/home-flooring-ideas/

How to Prevent Building Fire? Most Effective Tips for Home and Office

No matter how safe you feel in your home or office, there is always a slight risk of fire hazard, especially, when you ignore the basic safety precautions. Fire hazard is one of the most common accidents at homes as well as at offices that can end up in tremendous damages, including, life loss. However, it is still the highly ignored risk, in Australia, and mostly occur from preventable reasons.

According to the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Service Board, in 2015 there were 1,565 preventable house fires in Melbourne resulting in the loss of five lives and causing almost $30 million property damage. This clearly indicates that with proper precautions such accidents can be prevented, and the damages and loss can be minimized.

There are a few simple acts that can help you protect yourself and people around you from huge accidents.

Fire Safety Tips for Home

The Fire and Rescue NSW reported that a total 4,545 house fires were attended to by the rescue teams in 2008/2009 alone. Out of these 1,054 were caused by unattended heat sources in the kitchen and 651 by electric short circuits.
Home fires pose serious dangers and it might give you just two minutes to escape. So, it’s better to protect your house from such incidents and prevent the fire risks by taking a few basic safety precautions.

Fire Safety in the Kitchen

According to the stats, kitchen is the most important place that requires your attention for safety. Here are few tips to prevent fire hazards in the kitchen:

1. Never use water to put out the fire caused by fat or oil, it will only help the fire to spread
2. Always turn off the kitchen appliance after the use, from the main power switch
3. Never leave your stove or hot plates unattended while cooking. In case, you have to leave, turn off the stove, and resume cooking only when you are back in the kitchen
4. Make sure the electric appliances in the kitchen are not damaged or faulty. Regularly clean all these appliances
5. Always keep the fire extinguisher and fire blanket in the kitchen, but at least 1 meter away from the stove
6. Keep the flammable material, like, oven mitts, tea or paper towels etc., away from the stove or any heat source
7. Never leave kids unattended in the kitchen
8. If the oil in a pan catches fire, while cooking, turn off the stove immediately. Or put the lid over the pan, and if it still doesn’t work, use fire blanket
9. If the fire starts from the oven or microwave, turn it off right away and unplug the power cable from the main switch. And, do not open the microwave’s door, until the fire inside, suffocates and goes completely out

Fire Safety in the other Parts of Home

The percentage of fire hazards takes place in the lounge, bedrooms, and other parts of the house, is very low than those that happen the kitchen. However, that does not bring down the importance of taking the right precautions for your and your loved ones’ safety. Here are a few quick tips to ensure that the risk of fire accidents at your home is minimized:

1. Check all the fire detectors around your home for their proper functioning
2. Create a fire escape plan for your house, and have everybody remember it
3. Ensure that all the fire extinguishers at your home are working properly
4. Train all the family members to use the fire extinguishers, and practice the fire escape drill at least twice a year
5. Store all the household chemicals out of the reach of children or heat source. And, remember not to mix the cleaning chemicals, ever
6. Never overload power boards or extension cords, as that has high probability of leading to short circuits
7. Always put a screen in front of the fireplace while that is in use
8. Do not smoke in bed or near any place that has flammable materials around

Fire Safety Tips for Offices

Well, now you are a lot more aware of protecting your home from, at least, the preventable hazards. Let’s move on to talk about the safety of your office from the fire hazards. It is found that people with small businesses don’t take fire hazards as an important factor to put much attention on. However, one should never forget that no matter how small or large your organization is, the human lives and all the data/work in your office, are more important than anything else you put most attention on.

Further, it is not the responsibility of the manager or the owner of the organization only, to take the due measures against fire hazards, but of each person who works there.

Here are a few tips for you and your colleagues/employees to protect the office from potential fire hazards:

Safety Tips

1. Never allow smoking inside the offices
2. Always turn off all the electric devices in the office before you leave for the day
3. Do not overload any power circuit in the office
4. Keep the heat sources or any equipment that gets heated, away from electric wires or any flammable material
5. Regularly check on the electric cords of all electronic equipment/devices in the office. Replace the damaged or faulty cables
6. Maintain all the machinery in the office, from time to time, to prevent overheating and friction sparks
7. Train everyone in the office on how to use of fire extinguisher, and place the extinguishers within everybody’s quick reach
8. Put a fire escape plan on the wall where it is visible to everyone, or can be reached by everyone
9. Make your office clutter-free and encourage all the employees for the same. Clutter of waste papers and other flammable material acts as a fuel to the fire, and helps it to spread quickly
10. If your office/workplace stores any chemical or flammable material, keep them in their designated areas. Have a prototype for employees working in those specific areas and/or with these inflammable materials

We hope that you are, now, more aware of the measures that need to be taken to minimize the chances of fire accidents. So, go and make your homes and offices FIRE SAFE!

Also, make sure that you have the best quality fire safety equipment at your house, offices, and workplace.

Source: https://www.projectlink.com.au/blog/fire-prevention-tips/