Author: Nerve Admin

From tough climate change targets to increasing pressure to demonstrate ESG credentials, the case for a  more environmentally conscious approach to construction is clear. 

Our research has shown that good ESG practices result in better operational performance. And companies can expect an average internal rate of return of 27-80% on their carbon saving investments.

But for many businesses, it isn’t clear how to make this the switch to greener alternatives. 

The construction industry is currently responsible for 40% of the UK’s carbon emissions¹, and many widely touted solutions, such as circular production, require a comprehensive overhaul of existing practices. 

In this article, we demonstrate how much smaller changes can have a powerful effect on businesses’ overall environmental impact – by exploring three key benefits of our innovative Mobile Welfare Units.

1. Reduce emissions

Our welfare units and lighting units operate on hybrid power, enabling them to reduce emissions by as much as 90% compared to other products on the market. This is achieved by making use of solar power and more environmentally friendly lithium batteries.

Across even a relatively small fleet, the result is an enormous cumulative reduction in overall emissions. And if you have a fleet of 100 vehicles in use, that reduction could net to the equivalent of planting 2.2 million trees.

For businesses struggling with fuel costs, this provides an additional benefit. By radically reducing the amount of fuel necessary to power your welfare units, you can mitigate your reliance on highly volatile fuel markets – and protect your bottom line.

2. Avoid unnecessary servicing

On the average construction site, simply servicing a fleet of vehicles has a large environmental cost. Why? Because transporting vehicles to and from site produces a high volume of site externalities and extra emissions.

Much of this servicing is done to refill and empty onsite chemical WC facilities. But our mobile welfare units are fitted with extremely large water tanks and Smart Water Systems, which are far more sustainable. The ECOXLi, for example, runs on 100% recycled rainwater and provides a water wash basin and two separate water-flush toilets.

As a result, the unit’s water usage is far more efficient than others on the market. This means as opposed to chemical WC systems, which are standard in the market,, our XL smart water can go months between services – rather than weekly. And this helps more than halve the emissions produced by service transport.

3. Optimise energy usage

Introducing more eco-friendly, energy efficient welfare units is vital. But there is still huge value in monitoring, managing and minimising your welfare unit’s energy usage. Which is exactly why we introduced Smart Telemetry to the ECOXLi unit.

With a user-friendly interface, it enables workers to track and optimise the fuel usage of their vehicle – and ensure you only use what is needed. This helps keep emissions as low as possible, as well as demonstrating that your site is doing everything it can to go green.

If you’d like to learn more about these and more eco-friendly features, reach out to our sales team today.

National Technology Day celebrates the power of technology to transform all areas of the global economy. And mobile Welfare Units are the perfect encapsulation of this. 

While there are legal requirements all construction sites must meet – such as providing access to toilets, washing facilities and drinking water – it is only through innovative design and  technology that mobile welfare units have become what they are today.

Bringing together a variety of innovative technologies, modern mobile welfare units like ours are able to both improve employee experience and reduce the environmental impact of the vehicles. In this article, we explore three key ways technology has helped make this transformation of mobile welfare units possible:

1. More efficient energy

Traditionally, most welfare units were powered entirely by diesel generators and produced extremely high carbon emissions. This was bad in a number ways: fuel was expensive, the energy usage was inefficient and the high emissions were environmentally harmful.

As the technology has evolved, however, innovative mobile welfare units have become increasingly fuel efficient. Market leading models, such as the EcoXLi, now run on a sophisticated hybrid power system, which can eliminate emissions and is far more energy efficient.

It utilises a combination of renewable solar energy and a next generation lithium batteries that is capable of powering the entire system. This minimises the need for generator power, and the EcoXLi only features a small 3.5VA Backup HVO generator.

The result? A zero carbon mobile welfare unit that runs on 100% silent and clean green energy, without compromising on quality – and is extremely reliable.

2. Better water usage

Water is essential for any welfare unit, as they must legally provide wash facilities, toilets and drinking water. However, most units operate highly inefficient water systems, based on outdated technology, and chemical WC facilities.

In contrast, Welfare Hire’s mobile welfare units, which have embraced smart water technology, are able to provide more reliable, cleaner and more cost efficient wash and WC facilities. The ECOXLi, once again, is the perfect example: its Smart Water system uses 100% recycled rainwater, alongside an XXL water tank that is capable of servicing the entire system, including non-chemical, water-flush toilets.

This ensures that the unit provides the absolute best hygiene, with XL hot water sinks and ECO Water Flush toilets in two full-size separate WCs. But it also unlocks efficiency savings against other, less advanced units.

Because the average welfare unit operates smaller chemical WC waste tanks, they must be serviced and emptied more frequently – which involves added transportation costs and increased carbon emissions. But the ECOXLi’s much larger water system ensures that servicing is less frequent – thereby reducing these costs whilst improving hygiene and wash facilities onsite.

3. Usability

A lot of technological progress is focused on functionality. But there is also huge scope for technology to make products easier and more pleasant for the end-user.

This is another key factor in the evolution of modern mobile welfare units: technology has made them far easier to optimise utilisation for the average user.

Take the ECOXLi’s Smart Telemetry system. Featuring a live dashboard, the digital technology makes it extremely simple for users to manage and optimise their welfare unit’s power usage. With real-time monitoring, as well as reporting on volumetric data for your sites and projects, you can ensure that no more power is used than necessary.

And in combination with the ECOXLi’s Smart auto system, this means you produce the optimal value from your water and power system.

Welfare Hire is driven by technology

As a business whose growth has been powered by innovation, we at Welfare Hire understand how transformative technology can be. That is why we continue to reinvest our revenue into new products and asset upgrades – so that ours remains the biggest and most technologically advanced fleet in the UK.

If you’d like to discover more about the technology behind our innovative vehicles, click here to get in touch today.

If you haven’t been taking the upcoming changes to fuel costs seriously, you’re going to have to start soon. 

As of 1 April 2022, red diesel will no longer be available at a rebated rate for many commercial applications – including a majority of users in the construction industry. This will cause prices to nearly double overnight, forcing businesses to dramatically rethink their fuel consumption.

Why are fuel costs going up?

Put simply, the fuel changes are a direct consequence of efforts to mitigate climate change. The UK government has set itself ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. And by taxing the use of red diesel, they hope to force businesses to switch to more environmentally friendly alternatives. 

But there has been significant resistance to these changes. As energy prices continue to rise, many industry leaders have lobbied for the government to delay the removal of rebates for red diesel. Without these rebates, they say, many contractors will be unable to stay afloat.

However, these contractors overlook the possibility of not just reducing their reliance on red diesel – but actually reducing their overall fuel usage.

Getting to the heart of the problem

Sourcing alternatives to red diesel is important, but it is ultimately a band aid solution. Fuel prices are currently very unpredictable, and show little sign of becoming more stable. So the problem many construction contractors face is not just the cost of fuel – it is the amount of it their equipment requires. 

The only viable long-term solution is therefore to upgrade to greener equipment, which uses fuel far more efficiently. How can this be done? Our range of ECO welfare units are a perfect example.

The ECO10 runs on hybrid power, enabling it to use 90% less fuel each day than a standard static unit. But that’s not all: it also features an XL Smart Water system, which reduces the frequency with which it needs to be refilled and serviced – and therefore helps reduce transport and the use of fuel further.

Overall, this will significantly reduce business’s reliance on fuel of any kind – as well as offering a range of other benefits, such as reduced noise and better onsite welfare.

Change the approach, not the source

As a business, we want to help our partners change how they think about problems. By simply replacing their existing welfare units with more technologically advanced ones, they can get to the heart of the problem. 

So as competitors scramble to find more eco-friendly fuel sources, our partners are able to see a more direct and sustainable route to change – one that is both more eco-friendly and more financially viable.

As construction sites seek to embrace sustainability, the majority focus heavily on CO₂ emissions from their welfare units and other key machinery. But what is frequently overlooked is the often highly unsustainable use of water throughout projects.

Water waste goes unnoticed

Of course, water is essential to construction. We use it for everything from grouting and dust suppression to drinking and WC facilities. The problem is we are not sufficiently aware of how wasteful this usage can be. 

The UK does not currently experience severe water shortages. But with more than 785 million people across the globe struggling to access clean water¹, we still have a responsibility to be mindful about our use of this vital resource. 

The sustainable management of water is one of the UN’s key Sustainable Develop Goals (SDGs) for a reason. And for construction leaders looking to improve their site’s ESG credentials, making better use of water is key.

Understanding onsite water waste

The average construction vehicle has four basic problems when it comes to water usage:

1. The water is generally sourced from water supplies rather than more sustainable alternatives
2. The water is not recycled after usage
3. Water tanks for facilities are often too small, leading to regular refills that produce high carbon emissions and enviable waste
4. The usage is difficult to manage and therefore non-optimal

The result is that most sites’ water system is not environmentally sound. It wastes water, produces unnecessary carbon emissions and is often highly unreliable.

Our Smart Water solves this problem

At Welfare Hire, all of our mobile welfare units come fitted with a Smart Water system which solves these problems and immediately improves the overall sustainability of your construction site. 

The ECOXLi, for example, offers a complete system. 

It harvests 100% recyclable rainwater to refill the unit’s water tanks and WCs. This is then stored in an XL water tank with 340L capacity, which reduces the need for maintenance and servicing. And it comes fitted with a Smart Telemetry system which monitors the usage of water in order to minimise the need for transport and ensure there is always clean water available.  

With this system, the welfare unit is able to provide water whenever it is needed, as well as two ECO water flush toilets – all while reducing the amount of water your site needs to operate on and lowering carbon emissions.

The benefits are clear for your business, your workers and the planet.

Get in touch to try it yourself

If you’d like to future proof your business with a Smart Water System, reach out to our sales team today.

As incredible as it seems, 2022 marks the 10 year anniversary of Welfare Hire.

While we long ago established ourselves as a leader in the welfare unit market, this latest milestone demonstrates that we have true staying power.

Innovation pays

The root of our success is simple: we have a mission, and we stick to it. 

We decided from day one that we would build the UK’s largest and most technically advanced fleet of welfare units, welfare vans and lighting towers. 

And that is exactly what we have done. 

We have continuously reinvested our revenue to push innovation and provide better products to our partners. 

That has meant embracing next generation technologies – like lithium battery systems, smart telemetry and biofuel generators.

But it has also meant understanding the welfare needs of our clients, and ensuring our units are spacious, comfortable and designed for convenience. 

The combination produces unrivalled quality, exceptional value and devoted service at all times.

Our offering is more timely than ever

Mobile welfare units and welfare vans are often an afterthought – a mere practical

A major part of our staying power has been our embrace of eco-friendly technology. 

When we began offering products geared specifically to reducing carbon emissions and producing greener construction sites, there was certainly some awareness of climate change in parts of the industry.

But we have been vindicated in recent years as the industry has woken up to the significance of the task we face.

While other businesses look to pivot their offering, we’ve been able to carry on as we always had. 

That has meant we’ve been consistently ahead of the game, producing the most forward-thinking products on the market. 

And that in turn has given us unique expertise on how to make welfare units and lighting towers  eco-friendly.

Never settle for second best

Despite the celebrations, we have no interest in slowing down anytime soon.

We are still investing heavily in the innovation process, having released our most advanced welfare unit to date last year – the ECOXLi.  

And moving forward, we intend to push this even further. 

We will continue helping our partners realise their sustainability goals. 

We will continue to create more positive onsite experiences for their employees. 

And we will continue to provide the highest quality products, for the best value, with the most reliable service on the market.

So here’s to another ten years!

Gender equality is still a major issue for the construction industry. Around 10% of the construction workforce is currently female¹. But 86.7% of those women are in office positions  – and only 2.5% work directly in the field².

This suggests that women in our industry face their biggest difficulties onsite. And in order to increase gender equality, we must offer a more inclusive environment in which female employees can thrive.

In this article, we explore why construction sites are still a great opportunity for women – and how leaders can adapt their sites to encourage greater female participation.

CULTURE IS THE KEY

The primary barrier to increased female participation on construction sites is cultural. There are long-standing stereotypes that plague the industry. And these stereotypes ultimately create a sense of alienation and exclusion for women onsite. 

A report published in 2020 showed that 72% of women in construction had experienced some form of gender discrimination in the workplace³. 80% of women say they feel left out at on-site socialising⁴. And 37% believe they are consistently excluded from male conversations at work⁵.

Other issues include the cleanliness of facilities; Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) not fitting female employees; and pervasive ideas about construction being fundamentally “men’s work”.

HOW WELFARE UNITS CAN CHANGE CULTURE

Mobile welfare units and welfare vans are often an afterthought – a mere practical necessity. But the reality is many of the cultural problems we have discussed are directly affected by the type of welfare units you choose to place onsite.

From the quality of facilities to the amount of space provided for socialising, welfare units can increase camaraderie and facilitate a happier, more inclusive social atmosphere. This is far from a silver bullet for the problem of gender imbalance, of course. But it can go a long way to creating an onsite culture, which is more accommodating to female workers. 

Let’s take our ECOXLi unit as an example. It provides far larger space than other typical welfare units, with dynamic spaces. But that’s not all: there is controlled heating, to ensure the space is comfortable at all times. 

There are separate water-flush ceramic toilets and WC/changing rooms, to ensure privacy and optimal hygiene for all employees. And the Smart Water WC facilities are the cleanest and most efficient on the market. 

The XL canteen area provides a comfortable and spacious break area with a fully equipped kitchen. Plus there is a drying facility for PPE and an extra large 2-person office.

The result is clear: employee wellbeing is dramatically improved, and the on-site dynamic is far more friendly and inclusive.

THE CLEAREST WAY TO IMPROVE ON-SITE CULTURE

The GMB predicts it will take 200 years to achieve full gender equality, based on current trends⁶. But we believe that improving on-site wellbeing will bring about much faster changes. And introducing innovative welfare units is just one, easy-to-implement way of doing that.

Found out more on how our dynamic, modern welfare units can enhance Wellbeing here.