Health & Safety
All areas within Exchange Tower and the surrounding entrance areas are no smoking.
Should you see an incident or anything else that creates a Health and Safety/environmental hazard or issue you are responsible for taking whatever action you can to resolve the situation.
In addition to the foregoing you must also contact the Helpdesk for further advice and they will act as necessary to promptly resolve the situation.
National Britannia is the Health & Safety consultants for Exchange Tower and their e-risk Inter-Active Health & Safety/Environmental system is used on site.
Regular inspections are carried out throughout the buildings and all defects are logged and actioned immediately.
It is each occupier’s responsibility to ensure the safety of their employees, contractors and visitors within their own offices.
It is each occupier’s responsibility to ensure they have the correct waste disposal procedures in place within their offices to support the building waste recycling scheme.
Under the Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 1999, occupiers of the building are required to provide written evidence of Fire Risk Assessments and hazard analysis reports, a valid fire certificate as well as evidence to show that an effective management system has been put in place to document and maintain the standards of the
New Regulations.
Recycling
Exchange Tower actively encourages the recycling of waste and operates a fairly comprehensive recycling scheme. The majority of building waste is segregated into “Dry Recyclable waste” or ‘Wet non-recyclable waste”.
Regular collections of recycled waste are made each week and items recycled include:
- Mixed coloured paper and magazines
- White paper
- Plastic Vending Cups
- Aluminium cans
- Plastic bottles
- Glass
- Toner cartridges
- Cardboard boxes (flat-packed only)
- Shredded waste
All waste is segregated into sacks as follows:
Dry Recyclable - Clear Plastic Sacks
Wet Non-Recyclable - Black Plastic Sacks
Monday to Friday 0600 – 0730 hrs (all waste)
Monday to Friday 1400 – 1500 hrs (recycled waste only)
All that occupiers need to do is to segregate the waste and encourage their staff to ‘recycle’ throughout the day.
Old or redundant IT equipment must also be recycled, although a charge of approximately £7.50 per unit would be made. This facility may be useful as new EU Hazardous Waste Regulations are in force concerning the disposal of waste electrical equipment and IT equipment. Companies must obtain Hazardous Waste Licences when disposing of redundant electrical waste equipment. Details can be obtained via 08708 502858 or
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/waste/1019330.
Waste Management
All general waste is compacted on site and disposed of by Grosvenor Waste Ltd. The compacted waste is put through a Material Recycling Facility (MRF) for segregation and recycling. All general waste must be placed in either clear (recycling) sacks, or black (non recycling sacks. The sacks should not be overloaded to avoid injury to operatives and can be placed in the goods lift lobbies between 0600 – 0730 hrs (Monday to Friday) for collection. Rubbish must not be left in the lobbies during the day or night as this may cause a trip/fire hazard.
Provision has also been made for a large skip to be situated on site permanently for occupiers to discard of unwanted items that cannot be recycled or are just too large or unsuitable for the compactor. If occupiers have a large amount of rubbish for disposal, then they must arrange a skip for their own use and inform building management beforehand. All skips at Harbour Exchange must be of the covered lockable type and Waste Transfer/Consignment Notes must be kept on file by the waste producer.
Environmental Issues
Hammerson UK Properties plc, the owner’s of Exchange Tower, is committed to reducing the environmental impacts arising from its activities and has therefore developed a corporate-wide environmental management strategy (EMS)[1]. One of the objectives of this strategy involves liaising with occupiers and encouraging them to consider the environmental impacts of their occupation of office space.
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In doing this, the Management Services at this office aims to work in co-operation with occupiers to address their own concerns regarding environmental issues – rather than be prescriptive. Fortunately, improving environmental performance often leads to cost savings, through reducing wastage. To this end, the key environmental impacts arising from office occupation are briefly outlined in this section of the Occupiers’ Guide.
( Wherever Management Services can be of assistance, for example, in explaining the operational controls for lighting, heating, or air-conditioning – please contact the Helpdesk on 0800 652 5858.
Energy consumption
Energy is used in offices for lighting (typically 25-40% of energy costs[2]), for heating and cooling (40-60%) and in the use of computers and other electrical appliances (15-35%).
Whenever energy is generated from fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), gases are emitted to the air. This is true whether the fuel is burnt in a power station to produce electricity, or used directly in a building. The main emissions are carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons, and particulates. The environmental problems resulting from these emissions are climate change, acid rain and photochemical smog.
Listed below are a couple of practical examples of simple steps to reduce energy consumption:
► Heating and Cooling
- Find out how the heating and cooling systems are supposed to operate, and take advantage of any energy efficient functions that are built in.
- Ensure that doors / windows are not opened at the same time that heating or air conditioning is on.
► Lighting
- Optimise the use of daylight by keeping windows clean and locating activities that require high light levels close to natural light sources.
- Run a ‘Switch Off’ campaign, encouraging staff to switch off lighting when spaces are adequately lit or not in use. It is always cheaper to switch off lights (including fluorescent lights), however short the time period.
- Lighting Control System
- Occupiers are responsible for the maintenance and repair of all ceiling mounted lighting units and any controllers that they may install above the ceiling void.
- Occupiers are reminded that large quantities of energy can be wasted by lights remaining on when office areas are unoccupied. As such occupiers should ensure an appropriate control/sensor strategy for their areas.
► Wireless Network
- Occupiers wishing to install wireless LANs are alerted to the potential security issues associated with them and must take note of the possible interference issues that may occur due to the presence of other wireless networks.
- Wireless Networks can offer connectivity to anyone within range of an access point; physical boundaries are no longer a relevant option for preventing access. Installation of devices with little or no security would allow any unauthorised user with appropriate equipment to connect.
- In addition, wireless technologies use frequencies from a band that is divided into channels. In order for adjacent access points to work with each other and not cause interference, a different channel must be used for each Access Point.
- As such, all Access Points must abide by all national regulations relating to wireless devices.
- The number of access points and the frequency, channel and range of each access point must be agreed with the Landlord (such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) before installation to ensure that there is no interference with the Landlord’s wireless provision.
- Each tenant will use technical means to ensure that no access point on the premises will, at any time, operate on any channels that have not been agreed.
- Any access point using agreed channels (and any linked antennae) must be adjusted (on installation and so often thereafter, as may be necessary) so as to provide coverage extending no more than 2 metres beyond the outside faces of any outer boundary of the tenants demise.
► Office equipment
- Purchase equipment with the ‘Energy Star’ or EU Eco-label standards.
- Screen savers do not save energy – activate ‘power save’ features and switch off computer monitors (which use twice the energy of the computer) when not in use, including when they are away from their desks for meetings or lunch.
Water consumption
Over two-thirds of water use in the average office takes place in the washroom, where substantial savings can often be made.
Demand for water has reached unprecedented levels in the last ten years in the UK. This is coupled with a trend towards lower average rainfall – which can lead to regional water shortages. In the future, water is likely to become more expensive.
Listed below are a couple of practical examples of simple steps to reduce water consumption:
► Reporting leaks
- Report water leaks – a faulty tap with a 5 mm stream of water wastes 528 000 litres (528 m3) of water/year. This could cost between £250 and £705/year.
► Fitting out
- Ensuring that any refurbishment of the bathroom facilities include modern, low-volume flush WCs, and consider waterless urinals.
In general, to reduce both energy and water related impacts, it is important to use these resources efficiently:
l By raising awareness and modifying behaviour.
l By measuring consumption and comparing this to typical offices.
l Making environmental and efficiency considerations part of procurement/purchasing criteria.
l Ensuring that environmental specifications and design are integral to fit-outs/alterations.
Waste disposal and recycling
Companies, in their office activities buy, use, and then dispose of a wide range of materials such as paper, computers, toner cartridges, food and drink containers, etc.
Waste and its disposal can have significant effects upon the quality of our environment and also has human health implications. Most of the waste produced in the UK currently goes to landfill, which affects the environment through its use of space, the need for transportation to the site and the threat of land and water contamination through leaching.
Rather than throwing materials away, it is environmentally preferable to:
l reduce the amount used in the first place;
l reuse them; then ensuring they are
l recycled.
These steps reduce the amount of landfill waste and the amount of raw materials needed to produce new products, thus reducing the rate of natural resource depletion. Examples of what can be done include:
► Paper reuse and recycling
- Paper is generally the most abundant reusable and recyclable material in an office. The guide Green Officiency contains detailed guidance on the efficient use of paper and ensuring that waste paper is collected for recycling.
For more information about the recycling initiatives in place in this building please contact the Building Management Helpdesk on telephone number 0800 652 5858.
- Through buying recycled paper[3] – certified to a recognised standard – it is possible to ‘close the loop’ by providing a market for goods manufactured from recycled materials.
► Disposing of redundant electrical equipment
- Several organisations refurbish unwanted IT equipment for reuse by schools and charities etc[4]. This is preferable to disposal through landfill or incineration.
Transport
Business travel and commuting, particularly in single-occupancy cars, contribute to congestion, noise pollution and air pollution. Congestion and increased journey times is economically inefficient (the Confederation of British Industry has put the cost to the British economy at around £15 billion every year) and also stressful. It is estimated that air pollution – of which vehicle emissions are the major contributor – is responsible for 24,000 premature deaths in the UK every year.
The basic approach to tackling these issues, as described in Green Officiency, is:
l To minimise the need for travel.
l Promote the use of efficient transport modes.
l Make the most efficient use of any company cars.
More detailed guidance can be found from: www.local-transport.dft.gov.uk/travelplans
Other documents and other sections in this Occupiers’ Guide are relevant to the efficient operation of occupiers’ demises and the building as a whole. Please also see:
· Environmental considerations for fitting-out/alterations
· Heating and Air Conditioning System – A Layman’s Interpretation
· Recycling & Waste Management at Exchange Tower