Safety is not only paramount in aviation but also in the construction industry. So when it came to the construction of a new 60 metre high air traffic control tower which will ensure the safety of more than 150,000 flight movements every year, COMBISAFE provided its versatile Safety Net Fan to protect the workforce.

With a 360 degree view over the entire airport, Manchester Airport’s new £16 million air traffic control tower has been designed by architectural firm CPMG and built by Morgan Sindall using the ‘slip form’ process. This efficient technique meant the tower was caste by pouring concrete into a continuously moving form for 222 hours, a feat which saw the structure rise up from the ground in just nine days.

With the use of scaffolding essential to provide working platforms and in order to erect the steel structure that sits on top of the concrete tower, Cheshire Scaffolds Ltd specified the COMBISAFE Safety Net Fan to provide an effective fall-arrest system for the workforce, and also to protect workers from falling objects and debris.

‘After we manually lifted the Safety Net Fans using hoists, we then secured them to the structure using Multi Clamps but were faced with the additional challenge of the top part of the structure being splayed outwards,’ commented Paul Brogan Cheshire Scaffolds Ltd. ‘With its extended reach, the Safety Net Fan delivered on every front, provided valuable protection to the workforce and met the client’s strict safety requirements.’

Following considerable research and development, the Safety Net Fan is not only more cost effective, adaptable and user friendly but it is significantly stronger than conventional methods with an energy absorption of up to 4.4 Kj.

Measuring 6m long and with a projection of 3.3 metres from the building, the COMBISAFE Safety Net Fan is tested to comply with EN 1263, the European standard for safety netting and can arrest falls of up to 100kg from a height of up to 6 metres. The mesh density of the fall arrest net is 60 x 60mm and it’s delivered laced together with an extra fine 20 x 20mm debris net. The combined net is able to catch considerably smaller particles of debris, protecting workers and pedestrians at ground level making it ideal for built up areas.

Manchester Airport’s new air traffic control will be complete and fully operational by the spring of 2013. By choosing the COMBISAFE Safety Net Fan on this prestigious project, the working at height risk is removed and the scaffolders will have been protected from falling objects and debris during the tower’s construction.