This virus presents a severe risk of contagion, and employers and employees must assess and manage that risk. Read the latest bulletin from Advicewise here
Employer banned, fined $450,000 and ordered to pay $230,350 compensation for immigrant exploitation. Read the detail here
Featured in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2020 issue – Max Núñez’ greenhouse in Chile gives the impression of a floating glass box
In our first update for the year read the latest update here from Advicewise with a summary of the main points being considered by the Government re the status of Contractors
Got a great event planned for 2020! The conference programme is being finalised now. We’re ready to publish our refreshed Awards categories and working on our sponsor/exhibitor pack.
Holidays Act calculations remain the bane (it rhymes with pain) of employers’ lives. Ordinary weekly pay and gross earnings remain as predictable as Auckland weather. In a test case The Employment Court recently (July 2019 – Tourism Holdings Limited v A Labour Inspector [2019] NZEmpC 87) considered whether commissions paid to bus drivers employed by Tourism Holdings Ltd (THL) were a regular part of an employee’s pay and should therefore be included in their holiday pay calculations. Read more here
Of all the materials that can be 3D-printed, glass is still one of the most challenging to work with. Scientists at Switzerland’s ETH Zurich research centre are working on changing that with a new better glass-printing technique: Source
Over the past 60 years, the General Assembly of the United Nations has acknowledged important fields of international endeavour and their contributions to society by declaring United Nations International Years. The International Commission on Glass are applying to have the year of 2022 declared as the Year of Glass by the United Nations. Based on worldwide enthusiasm for this initiative and our knowledge of protocol necessary for passage of this resolution, a UN Year of Glass is indeed feasible. A UN endorsed Year of Glass would truly be a worthy celebration of glass as the most transformative material in the history of humankind, and would signal the Dawn of the Glass Age. The initial aim is a successful resolution at the UN General Assembly in July 2020. UN protocol requires letters of endorsement from many organizations from across the world. Are you interested in participating? Are you willing to write a letter of endorsement for the proposed Year of Glass? More information here and here
Effective contractor management + How to answer a Site Safe – SiteWise pre-qualification questionnaire + What have Woods learnt about H&S
If you couldn’t make our recent workshop here is a link to the video we took (it’s 1 hour 45 minutes, and you might need to increase the volume), and a link to the slides. A huge thank you to Kenneth Hannon (Advicewise) and Pat Harrison (Woods)
Work is nearing completion on a supertall skyscraper in New York City that will boast the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere. The observation deck itself is named the Edge and is located near the top of the tower at the 100th floor, which is a height of 344 m. It juts out 24.8 m and measures 696 sq m. It has a large glazed section at its centre and angled glass walls allowing visitors to lean out over the city streets below.
Structurally, the observation deck consists of 278 sq m of glass, divided into 79 panels that were made in Germany and Italy. Each panel is 2.7 m tall and weighs 544 kg. The whole thing is bolted together and anchored to the east- and south-facing sides of the skyscraper and weighs in at 346,998 kg.
The Edge is due to open in March 2020, and if you’re so inclined, you can book your tickets now.