PFA Consulting Achieves New Accreditation

We are pleased to announce that we have recently achieved nationally recognised accreditation for our Integrated Management System.

Utilising the expertise of our Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) team the Company’s Policies and Procedures were assessed and reviewed to ensure they met the latest British Standards for occupational health and safety and environmental management, namely; BS OHSAS 18001: 2007 and BS EN ISO 14001: 2004.

MD, Peter Finlayson, stated,

“This achievement is part of PFA Consulting’s continuing programme of ensuring its business capabilities meet the highest standards of industry. The development of our Integrated Management System has been completed in a short space of time and demonstrates the knowledge and capabilities of our SHE staff”.

Achieving external accreditation was a two stage process. Initially, an audit was undertaken to ensure that the key requirements of the two standards could be met. A second audit examined the compliance of the Company’s Policies, Procedures and Work Instructions.

There are significant benefits to companies in achieving accreditation of their Integrated Management System, including:

• compliance with all associated legislation;

• competitive advantage over companies who are not certified when tendering for new business opportunities;

• maintenance of the highest standards in Health, Safety and   the Environment; and

• improvement of the company's management of Health,    Safety and Environmental risks.

Should you require further information or assistance on how to achieve accreditation for your company please contact Dave Moore at our offices Tel: 01793 828000.

Flood Risk Assessments

Flood Risk Assessments (FRAs) are required when a planning application is submitted for development which may have direct or indirect flood risk effects. The detailed requirements are set out in the Government’s Planning Policy Statement 25, Development and Flood Risk. The level of detail required in any FRA will be dependent on the scale, nature and location of the proposed development.

Revised standing advice recently published by The Environment Agency states that FRAs should be undertaken under the supervision of an ‘experienced flood risk management specialist’ who would normally be expected to have achieved chartered status with a relevant professional body, such as the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) or the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).

PFA Consulting is able to provide this level of expertise and experience and should you require assistance please contact Martin Packer on 01793 828000 or email mpacker@pfaplc.com

Manual for Streets - An Update

Published in March 2007, ‘Manual for Streets’ (MfS) aims to change residential street design and provides guidance on how to achieve well designed streets and spaces that place a high priority on the movement of people rather that the movement of motor vehicles.

Two important issues have, however, arisen, namely: whether some of the principles behind MfS should be applied to other roads and whether the concept of ‘shared space’ is potentially unsafe for some road users.

Geometric Design Criteria
MfS states that it “focuses on lightly-trafficked residential streets, but many of its key principles may be applicable to other types of street, for example high streets and lightly-trafficked lanes in rural areas” (page 5). However, some highway engineers and highway authorities have interpreted the guidance in different ways, in particular, the application of MfS to roads other than lightly-trafficked residential streets and the visibility standards which should be applied.

Critically, it is evident that there is an inconsistency of design approach between MfS and the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB). For example; modern vehicles have significantly better braking than vehicles that were being manufactured 20 or 30 years ago and it is questionable whether certain standards in the DMRB is leading to over engineered roads, particularly those that are not strategic routes.

In order to address this gap the Institution of Highways and Transportation, supported by the Department for Transport, has commissioned consultant WSP to lead a study which is likely to produce a new document, ‘Manual for High Streets’. The study is intended to balance the requirements of a wide cross-section of road users on more heavily trafficked routes.

Shared Space
The traditional design philosophy of urban streets has been to keep pedestrian spaces and highway spaces segregated, primarily on grounds of safety. The concept of ‘shared space’ challenges this philosophy, advocating integration and the ‘decluttering’ of streets. This involves less use of traffic lights, pedestrian guardrails, traffic signs and road markings, coupled with the implementation of shared surfaces to allow pedestrians and vehicles to interact and function in the same space.

MfS discusses shared surface streets and points out that there can be problems for some disabled people (paragraph 7.2.10). The design principle of shared space is that pedestrians and slow moving vehicles share and integrate in a single space, creating a ‘sense of place’ which is social, functional and atheistically pleasing.

The concept is not, however, without its critics and concerns have been expressed on the difficulties such environments can cause blind or partially sighted people. Interestingly, many northern European countries have promoted shared space more enthusiastically than in the UK with examples in this country remaining relatively rare.

Funding for a major shared space scheme in Exhibition Road, London, has recently been announced by The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster City Council. The success of this scheme may have far reaching consequences for the wider implementation of shared space design. Fundamentally, however, it is important that such projects are designed by integrating the sometimes conflicting requirements of urban design, transport planning and highway engineering.

PFA Consulting has designed shared spaces for a number of developments but would welcome the views and experiences of others, in particular the opinions of local authority highway officers.

If you wish to discuss further please contact Paul Tregear on 01793 828000 or email ptregear@pfaplc.com