|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Annual Report 2008 |
|||||||
|
|
At 31 December 2008 the membership was as follows: Corporate Members Air Liquide Welding Ltd * GrantRail has changed to VolkerRail as of 1 March 2009 Individual Members P J Fenlon Each Corporate Member is entitled to nominate a representative to the Management Committee. Income from subscriptions has enabled IoRW to continue to maintain all the current benefits of membership. The following benefits have been maintained:
Note: The last two items are now provided free of charge by TWI and are not charged to the IoRW accounts. Summary of activities in 20081. MembershipNew members Progress Rail Corporation joined as a new Corporate Member in 2008. Resignations Amey Infrastructure and Railtech UK left the IoRW in 2008. A valid letter of resignation was received in 2008 from Air Liquide which will come into effect at the end of March 2009. Outstanding payments Payments are still outstanding for 2008 from Bridgen, Serco Docklands and Lincoln Electric. 2. EventsTechnical Seminars Two Technical Seminars were held in 2008, the first in May at the Derby Conference Centre on Rail Welding - Challenges for the Future, the second in November at Wolverhampton, kindly hosted by BOC Ltd, on Innovations in Flash Butt Welding of Rail. These events continued to attract a high number of participants, and around 70 people attended each one. The feedback from the second one was particularly positive and highlighted the benefit of hearing from an international team of speakers. Business Briefings The IoRW Management Committee continued to benefit from Business Briefing events. These are designed to provide a forum for discussion with relevant experts on business matters such as Directives and legislation that affect the industry. Two such events were organised in conjunction with Management Committee meetings. The first on Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome by Jonathon Sanders of Saint-Gobain Abrasives. The second was by Andy Foan of Balfour Beatty Rail Technologies on S&C manufacture, followed by a tour of the Balfour Beatty Sandiacre facility. Other meetings The Fourth Annual General Meeting was held in April 2008 and the IoRW Management Committee met three times during the year. All these meetings were well attended, with a high percentage of Corporate Member representatives present. 3. PublicationsNewsletter Three issues of Welding Lines was published in 2008 which included a wide range of relevant technical articles, company profiles and interviews with Corporate Members. Website Information on the IoRW website continued to be regularly updated and it received over 60,000 visits during the year. 4. Training and competenceFurther progress was made in the development of two draft guidelines: Diploma in Rail Welding Engineering and Rail Welding Instructor. The IoRW certification scheme for training organisations continued but at a much lower level as a result of Network Rail's new scheme. 5. RAILSAFEThe RAILSAFE Phase 2 project proposal on arc welding of rails was accepted and the project was launched in October 2008. Six partners from five countries are involved. They are: TWI Ltd, UK; Ir. J B van den Brug Raadgevend Ingenieur, The Netherlands; European Welding Federation, Portugal; VolkerRail, The Netherlands; Swedish Welding Commission, Sweden; National R&D Institute for Material Testing, Romania. The project has a duration of two years and progress will be reported regularly at IoRW. More information on the project can be found at www.ewf.be/Railsafe2. Overview Through IoRW’s constitution as a membership organisation, commercial or any other kind of bias is avoided. This has continued to bring about a spirit of consensus within the industry which has enabled technology and competence improvements. This will be carried forward into the future through the continued strong support of the membership. |
||||||
 |