The UK’s power sector has pledged to reach net zero by 2035. But with demand for energy set to more than double in the next two decades¹, experts warn that more rapid measures will be required to achieve these goals.

What can the sector do to ensure it both meets consumers’ needs and reduces its impact on the climate? 

At Kelling Group, we believe the key is to engage at every level of scale – from new infrastructure to the van mounted MEWPs used on-site. And in this article, we explore three ways this can be done.

1. Introducing Clean Energy to the Grid

The goal

The UK needs a green energy system that can provide over 65 million people with a reliable source of sustainable energy. This involves a complex national infrastructure that transports clean energy to households and buildings.

The challenge

Nearly £200 billion has been spent on clean energy projects since 2010².  But there is a lack of capacity in the national energy grid, which has created significant delays. There is currently an enormous “queue” to connect wind and solar energy to the grid – with some providers told they will have to wait up to 15 years.

“Fundamental reform is needed. More infrastructure is needed. We are working very hard to design and build at a faster pace than we ever have done before.”

Roisin Quinn of National Grid

How innovation helps

The lack of access to the grid – and concerns about the latency of some forms of renewables³ – can be overcome through technology. A recent report cited “smarter, more flexible, digitally-enabled grid” that would enable flexible use of power.⁴

2. Reducing Emissions On-Site

The goal

Power infrastructure projects must also decarbonise, enabling regular building and maintenance work to be done without adding to the sector’s overall carbon emissions. 

The challenge

Few projects can be completed without equipment like van mounted MEWPs. But until recently, it has been extremely difficult to access electric vehicles (EVs) that can fulfil the needs of a construction site.

How innovation helps

Access Zero offers a fleet of fully-electric van mounted MEWPs which radically reduce the carbon emissions of power sites. This empowers site leaders to make an easy win, immediately improving their ESG scores. With plans to remove diesel from worksites by 2035, they will also be getting ahead of the curve⁵ – and likely win more government and local authority contracts in the process.

2. Increasing Consumer Demand for Clean Energy

The goal

Consumers are able to influence the choices of both government and private enterprise. Educating the public and encouraging individuals to push for far faster progress on decarbonisation will increase the sector’s urgency. 

The challenge

Many consumers perceive clean energy as a direct route to higher prices. Combined with the recent increases in bills due to the war in Ukraine, many consumers are less inclined to opt for greener choices. 

How innovation helps

At Kelling Group, our eco-friendly fleets are a perfect example of innovation providing the answer. While many employees on power worksites may not feel they can influence decarbonisation, they actually have the ability to make a real difference – simply by putting pressure on their employers to choose cleaner equipment. With fully-electric van mounted MEWPs now available nationwide, workers can show their employers that products exist which will both improve their output and reduce their carbon emissions.

Want To Explore Eco-Friendly Fleets?

The arguments in favour of Electric Vehicles (EVs) are now very familiar. They reduce carbon emissions, minimise air pollution and provide a more sustainable means of transport. 

But the question is how long until adoption is widespread? 

More than 10 million EVs were sold last year, and that number is expected to reach 14 million in 2023. With the government’s pledge to phase out – and eventually make illegal – the sale of new oil and petrol vehicles, this growth can only increase.

What does it mean for your infrastructure projects?

It depends on your perspective. 

Because if you seize the opportunity, it could deliver a  substantial competitive advantage.

The genie is not going back into the bottle

Now that it is possible for an infrastructure project to use fully-electric Van Mounted MEWPs, there will be an inevitable chain reaction. Early adopters will improve their ESG scores rapidly, which in turn will help them win more tenders. 

Once this becomes clear, competitors will have to adopt EVs just to keep up – at which point those that have got ahead of the curve will have the headstart of being used to this new way of working.

The advantage of this emerging technology is the ease of integration into current operations. With us as the UK’s pioneering supplier of a fully electric fleet of Van Mounted MEWPs, our customers find that incorporating these vehicles into their daily routines can be a seamless process. The experience of operating an electric vehicle quickly becomes second nature. The earlier you embrace this change, the sooner you can begin reaping the benefits of electric technology – giving you an upper hand in this rapidly evolving sector.

 

Electric vehicles will only improve

While the current crop of fully-electric Van MEWPs produces significant savings, there is already research suggesting that the life-cycle emissions of a typical EV will be cut by 73% by 2050. As usage grows, production becomes more efficient and the grid is optimised, it’s inevitable that the rest of the industry will cotton on to the undeniable benefits.

That is part of the reason we have made sure to get ahead of the curve. We believe our role is not just to provide our customers with quality equipment, but to help them embrace innovation and carve out a more positive future.

We are confident that Electric Vehicles will be a major part of that future for the infrastructure sector, and we are proud to be the first to take bold action and offer ambitious, forward-thinking project leaders a fully-electric fleet.

Want to learn more about Access Zero?

MEWPs are essential for many infrastructure projects, enabling faster, safer work at heights. Choosing the right MEWP will:

• Save time by reducing delays
• Save money by enabling faster, more efficient work
• Improve workers’ experience on-site

But how do you know who has the capability and who to trust with the responsibility of providing your MEWP?

At Access Hire, we pride ourselves on being trusted advisors to our customers. Which is why we’ve put together this guide to choosing the perfect MEWP supplier for your project.

Here are four factors contractors should consider before hiring a MEWP:

1. Site Safety and Conditions

Whether working on a town or city street, or in more rural environments, the central concern for any MEWP hire is picking the correct MEWP for the job. This will depend on the specifics of the job and industry: working on a smaller site will require a smaller, more agile vehicle; jobs in rural areas will likely benefit from a 4×4 pickup style MEWP.

The majority of projects, however, will benefit from van mounted MEWPs. Without the need for towing, they can simply be driven to wherever they are needed and get to work. This is not only more efficient; it allows the vehicle to be moved more quickly – granting your project more flexibility. 

2. Service offering

From rigorous testing to fast delivery, the service of a MEWP provider can make all the difference to your project. What level of support does the vendor offer? Is maintenance and servicing included in the contract? And how quickly can your vehicle be delivered to the site? 

These factors can impact the overall economics of your hire: costs incurred due to faulty machines, downtime, maintenance and servicing are often underestimated and overlooked when planning to source a MEWP.

3. Courtesy Vehicles

How easily can a vehicle be replaced? And what does that potential downtime cost you? For most contractors, time without their MEWP can lead to big losses. And delays will typically slow down the entire project’s workflow.

Your chosen provider should therefore be able to resolve issues with their MEWP quickly. Signs to look for are the size of the supplier’s fleet (as this indicates whether a replacement vehicle is likely to be ready) and the quality of their engineers.

At Access Hire, for example, we employ a highly responsive team of engineers who are experts in the specific units we hire out. As a result, they can often diagnose issues over the phone – reducing your potential downtime from hours to minutes.

We also have dedicated courtesy vehicles to minimise downtime and help our customers to get back to work quickly!

4. Environmental impact

A growing number of tenders require contractors to demonstrate their eco-credentials. This is a key topic currently and it will be a growing priority moving forward – and project managers should be aware that environmentally friendly Van Mounted MEWPs are now available.

The first fully electric MEWP lease package, Access Zero, was recently launched, enabling Fleet Managers to reduce their carbon emissions and show their dedication to environmental concerns. If you believe improved ESG will give you a competitive edge, this may be the unit for you.

Explore Access Hire’s full MEWP range here or contact sales for more information.

The business case for Learning and Development (L&D) is well established. Research shows that offering workers educational opportunities makes companies 92% more likely to produce innovations, increasing retention by 34% and boosts engagement by 14%.

But the strongest argument for increased L&D is not about your bottom line – it’s about your people. 

Professional development is a central driver for individual workers’ wellbeing and confidence on-site. Whether they are operating a van mounted MEWP or simply going about their daily tasks, proper training keeps your workers safe, confident and motivated.

Here are three ways it does that:

1. An investment in people 

While 82% of employees say it’s important for their organisation to see them as a person, not just an employee, only 45% of employees believe their organisation actually sees them this way. 

Professional development helps tackle that problem. Workers who are given opportunities to develop – whether training for van mounted MEWPs or management courses – feel their company is investing in them. That sense of being valuable translates not just into loyalty and productivity gains – it helps lift the entire morale of the workforce.

2. Confidence at work

A lack of confidence in carrying out a task can lead to anxiety at work. For workers experiencing this, training can validate their competence and give them the skills they need to positively navigate their daily tasks.

Working at heights is the perfect example. While van mounted MEWPs make workers safer and increase their productivity, operating such vehicles requires both knowledge and experience – both of which can be acquired through the right training program. The key is to provide training which allows workers to practise with the actual access equipment hire they will be using on-site. This will help them get used to the specific van mounted MEWP and help the training stick.

3. Career security

Experts argue that a lack of stability is a key factor in workers’ mental health. This is certainly true of most infrastructure sectors: with long, irregular hours and widely perceived lack of job security, many workers feel they lack the long-term security of other professions.

An investment in professional development helps provide more security. Not only does it ensure today’s workers are able to adapt to the innovative technologies that will define the industry’s future – it ensures that individual employees feel they are making progress in their careers.

There’s little debate that modern van mounted MEWPs improve infrastructure output: 79% of contractors say such advanced technologies improve on-site safety, and 78% say they increase labour productivity.

But even the best van mounted MEWPs require regular servicing and maintenance. Rather than seeing this as a regulatory burden, however, project leaders should focus on the benefits this process offers.

Here are three important ways inclusive service and maintenance helps you get more value from your van mounted MEWPs:

1. Increase safety 

Van mounted MEWPs make working at heights far safer. But that doesn’t mean there is no Health and Safety risk when vehicles are not properly maintained. A large study found evidence of 736 MEWP-related accidents between January 2019 and December 2020¹. 

According to a report from the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), the most common causes of injuries and deaths are: falls from the platform, electrocutions, entrapment, overturns, MEWPs hit by an object or vehicle, or struck by a falling object.²

But regular maintenance and servicing dramatically reduces these risks, ensuring the vehicle functions smoothly. As the IPAF states:

“All accidents can be avoided, if the correct steps are taken during a rigorous pre-use planning process.”²

What do these ‘steps’ include? Proper training, rigorous checks, and regular servicing and maintenance.

2. Ensure compliance

Lifting equipment like van mounted MEWPs are subject to rigorous LOLER examinations every 6 months. Every vehicle in your fleet must pass these tests to remain road legal – and avoid logistical problems and potential delays to the project.

Regular maintenance and servicing ensures your MEWPs pass in several ways. Not only do they ensure any vehicle wear is addressed and the vehicle functions properly, it also helps increase fuel efficiency.

3. Cost savings

Research shows that maintenance accounts for 30% of vehicle costs. But these costs can be kept under control with regular servicing and maintenance, as this ensures issues are caught earlier – and dealt with quickly. When hiring van mounted MEWPs, inclusive maintenance and servicing therefore provides a huge cost saving – both in the short and long-term. 

That’s why we include it with every vehicle you hire or lease from Access Hire and Access Lease. The goal is to help our partners unlock more value and keep their projects running, so they’re free to focus on what they do best.