Mudgee inventors to take product to national market

• Mudgee inventors.pdf

Mudgee inventors.pdf

Mudgee inventors to take product to national market

Local entrepreneur and tradesperson Luke Canham has come a long way in eight months. The Mudgee Guardian spoke to Mr Canham last year about his invention that he believes saves lives on building sites.

Now the Edge Deck, formally known as the Universal Builders (UB) Platform, is soon to be franchised nationally.

Seen at a number of building sites across Mudgee, the Edge Deck is a work platform and scaffold system which can be fitted to any building structure, giving tradespeople the stabilityand security to perform previously dangerous tasks such as erecting trusses, fixing gutters and roof claddings.

Local builders such as Adam Keightley, Anthony Lynch and Scott Hawkins know best about the benefits of having the Edge Deck at a building site.

“It addresses the problems of working on roofs and at heights,” Mr Keightley said. “It’s safer, quicker, practical and cost worthy.”

For Mr Lynch, the safety of his employees is paramount. “I have to leave the site regularly and I know my younger workers are safe with the Edge Deck in place,” he said.

“I know I’m doing the right thing by my employees and my clients.”

Safe work Australia said in the six-month period from July to December 2009 alone there were 14 fatalities caused by falls from a height in the construction industry.

Currently there is no single national approach to the prevention of falls from height.

However, a National Code of Practice for the Prevention of Falls in Housing Construction has recently been developed by Safe Work Australia, working to achieve harmonisation of OH&S legislation by December 2011.

This would see a shift in builders in all states being required to work with a safety system barriers as backed up by the program. Constructing Safely.

The campaign was developed to help the public understand builders’ duty of care and show they are providing maximum safety for their workers.

This along with Mr Canham’s passion for his product, encouraged franchising company DC Strategy to help nationalise the scaffolding system.

DC Strategy representative Nick Prohasky said they beleived Mr Canham had a drive to deliver his business inter-state. “His belief of growing the product was a standout for us,” he said.

“It’s not just the Edge Deck itself, it’s all the ancillaries that come with it and the potential the system has.”

DC Strategy is your business growth specialist. For more information in relation to franchising, please contact: (03) 8102 9200 or (02) 8220 8700.