Retail refits and MEWP rescue failures: practical lessons for project teams
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Retail refit programmes using mobile elevated work platforms (MEWPs) are facing a critical safety gap, with a live Marks & Spencer fit-out exercise by Horizon Platforms and Sigma M&E showing that many rescue plans fail when tested under real site congestion, multiple trades and live programme pressures. Senior site managers and health & safety leads discovered that nominated ground rescuers often lacked familiarity with specific MEWP control layouts, with identical inputs sometimes triggering opposite movements between manufacturers. A simplified, on-equipment rescue process flow chart proved more usable than lengthy method statements, pointing to the need for regular, machine-specific familiarisation and realistic rescue rehearsals.
Technical Brief
- Horizon Platforms ran the MEWP awareness and rescue session on a live Marks & Spencer fit-out.
- Sigma M&E commissioned the exercise specifically for the M&S continuous improvement group’s senior site leadership.
- Attendees included site managers, project managers, health & safety leads and principal contractors from nationwide M&S projects.
- Live drill conditions replicated retail refit constraints: congested floorplates, multiple trades and work proceeding under programme pressure.
- Rescue documentation reviewed on site was typically embedded within long method statements, not immediately accessible at the MEWP.
- Session findings stressed that supervisors approving MEWP works often lacked recent hands-on operating or emergency-control experience.
- Horizon’s simplified, on-machine rescue flow chart was developed to replace reliance on multi-page written procedures during incidents.
- For other fast-track fit-out and refurbishment programmes, equivalent machine-specific rescue rehearsals are implied as a necessary control.
Our Take
With the United Kingdom featuring heavily across our 676 Infrastructure stories, MEWP rescue planning on retail refits will be judged against a relatively mature UK safety culture, which can expose gaps in contractor procedures more starkly than in less regulated markets.
Marks & Spencer’s involvement signals that blue‑chip retailers are increasingly being scrutinised for how their principal contractors and platform providers, such as Horizon Platforms and Sigma M&E, manage work-at-height rescue, which can influence future framework agreements and pre-qualification criteria.
Across our safety‑tagged infrastructure coverage, incidents and near‑misses involving powered access often lead to rapid revisions of method statements and rescue plans, so contractors on UK retail programmes that do not already have tested MEWP rescue arrangements are likely to face tougher client audits and potential programme delays.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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