Thales
Newcastle

Newcastle Airport

The Newcastle Airport radar replacement project was to upgrade and replace the existing air traffic control systems and locate the new RADAR equipment on the roof of the airport terminal. There were two separate elements to this project, requiring work on two structures in different areas of the terminal roof.

Safety For were acting as Principal Designer for the Client and CDM Advisor for the Principal Contractor and Designer, Thales UK.

Although the project did not include a huge amount of civil and construction work, the work did come under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The project involved construction work in and around a live airport environment, with complicated lifting operations, one of which had to be undertaken at night, whilst accommodating the airport passengers and traffic.

Safety For followed their CDM Policy, part of which was the use of a Project Risk Register to drive risk mitigation and risk reduction, as well as track and record key design decisions made by the team.

Undertaking the two roles worked very well as Safety For were in a good position to provide a direct correlation between the Client, design team and the contractors undertaking the works. This included coordinating the design team, considering the Clients requirements for continuing to operate the airport.

Important information was collated and provided to all those who needed it and to be able to ensure those persons were able to plan for the safe undertaking of their element of works.

As the CDM Advisor for the Principal Contractor, Safety For were able ensure that the contractors had considered the pre-construction information in their own risk assessments. We also reviewed the contractor’s methodology to ensure a safe, coordinated approach. This also included reviewing and commenting on complex lifting plans, as well as ensuring the risks associated with traffic management and working at height were adequately and appropriately managed.

The project was completed with the handing over of the Health & Safety File, no accidents or ill health occurrences and negligible disruption to the daily operation of the airport.