Latest News, Blogs & Announcements | Page 147

Eight fire crews are today (Thursday, May 19) attending a massive blaze at a scrapyard on Tyneside. Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade confirmed that surrounding buildings were evacuated after the fire was reported at lunchtime. Smoke from the incident at Byker could be seen as far away as Hartlepool, about 30 miles away. Experts were still trying to ascertain if there are any dangerous chemicals involved, or likely to be reached by the flames. Contactless smart cards are used to operate Tensor’s time and attendance, access control and visitor monitoring systems which ensure safety at your premises with a range of fire and emergency options. The T3510 is the ultimate Smart Card Access Control system for doors and barriers. It enables one to four-door access control; and linked together it can control up to 128 doors from one PC. The T3510 has a volt-free input that can be wired directly into your fire alarm system. When the alarm is activated, all doors immediately open for a quick and safe evacuation of personnel.  

Ongoing talks are being held between London Underground and the unions over pay covering next summer’s Olympic Games, and a deal similar to one previously agreed with railway workers is set to be struck. Underground representatives are likely to ask for at least £500 for workers during the event. London Mayor Boris Johnson said Tube strikes during the games will be “very unlikely,” adding: "We are having our pay rounds now which are progressing well and we need to get that right.” The time and attendance software for all Tensor systems gives your organisation total control over pay, hours and clocking issues. Many daily working patterns (shifts) can be created, with either fixed or flexitime rules. These can run past midnight, making night shifts simple to define. Overtime is easily monitored, as our software has lots of standard analysis and viewing screens which enable you to approve and audit clocking transaction made by employees. Hours worked by employee, shift or department can be instantly checked; as can core-time violations.  

The Police Federation has claimed officers feel they are being "hit from all sides" by spending cuts. The body, which represents all police constables, sergeants and inspectors, has published its own survey of 42,000 police officers in England and Wales. It showed 85 per cent of respondents felt cutting police numbers would have an impact on crime levels. The recent coalition Spending Review slashed central government funding to police in England and Wales by 20% over five years. Tensor Access Control technology serves companies worried about crime impacting upon their site. Our Tensor Access Enterprise system can operate up to 31 T32xx clocking stations. Door access can be limited depending on the person's roll call status. Sensitive or dangerous areas can easily be denied to those who do not have the appropriate security clearance. Your clocking station network can consist of one or more clocks, and is connected to a main server PC either via the PC's standard serial port or an ethernet network adapter.  

A new report says public sector wages have been rising while many in the private sector were seeing wage cuts. The Policy Exchange said the gap between equivalent workers in both sectors was more than 30 per cent when based on hourly pay. The report said the gap, or pay premium, between what a typical public sector worker earns above their equivalent in the private sector has increased to 16.5% over the past two years for salaried workers. A Tensor time and attendance system allows your firm to create a myriad of different wage bands and shifts for your payroll. Among the numerous extra features that can be implemented on your system to take into account diversity with working rules between different organisations is Secondary Pay Bands. With this function certain pay bands pay into other bands either on a 1:1 basis or by using a multiplier. Using Shift Premiums, complex payment schemes can be used, based on factors such as the time of working to the grade of employee.  

A police force said it was winning the war on crime by working in tandem with the business community. The newest statistics from Grampian Police showed that complaints regarding breach of peace in the centre of Aberdeen had fallen by 15 per cent from the previous year. Supt Mark Cooper said Aberdeen was getting safer. He commented: "This is a tribute to the hard work carried out, not only by our officers, but our partners in the licensed trade and the local authority.” Pep up security at your business or retail premises with Tensor's access control and/or visitor monitoring systems, which are operated by contactless smart cards. All Tensor smart cards and key fobs use the same well-proven and reliable RF (Radio Frequency) reading technology. With up to 34 billion different combinations of ID number, there is no chance of duplication of the cards. In addition, each ID number has built-in security and integrity checks ensuring that it cannot be misread.  

Yet another church has been singled out by metal thieves. The low-security buildings are easy targets due to the valuable lead on their roofs being sought for the black market. This time Painswick church in the West Country was stripped of two square metres of lead as police warned businesses in the area not to accept stolen property. Forest of Dean officers have been working with metal merchants in fighting the problem, and a similar scheme has been launched in Gloucester. Access Control systems from Tensor use smart card technology to increase your building, site or office security. The system can be used for single or multi-site companies and will operate most standard types of internal or external locks or releases at site entry points. It will control your car park barriers, turnstiles or roller doors. An anti pass back facility limits the same card being used by more than one person, while door or barrier access can be limited depending on the person’s roll call status.  

A seaside building which in a former life was a public toilet has been sold for more than twice the guide price. The block at Norfolk resort Sheringham is more than 100 years old and was sold this week with planning permission to be used as a holiday home. The building, which had a guide price of between £30,000 and £50,000, had its value improved due to coverage in the national media that drew interest from around the country. Tensor's turnstiles fully integrate with our smart card and biometric access control systems giving you full jurisdiction over movement and access in and around your site. Included in this array are coin operated toilet turnstiles which help pay for the upkeep of the toilet block via the revenue streams the turnstiles create. Available as single or double half height turnstiles, the turnstiles cope with high traffic volumes and prestige access points. For more information on a Tensor turnstile, barrier or gate, please contact our sales team.

Included in a refurbishment of out-of-date Victorian station toilets are anti-vandalism materials. Train operator London Midland is bidding to tackle vandalism and other crimes head-on at Worcester station. Mike Hampson, London Midland’s head of facilities, said of the refurbishment plan: “When the works are complete London Midland anticipates a significantly improved environment for the benefit of our passengers and other station users.” Tensor's resilient coin operated toilet turnstiles are manufactured from graded stainless steel for ease of cleaning and maintenance. They can be a stand-alone access control device and are duty cycle rated for intensive use. They are ideal for rail and other companies who cannot afford to assign staff to the job of checking the lavatories at regular intervals. The turnstile bodies have lockable lids to prevent unwanted access and are securely mounted to the floor plate. If necessary Tensor's gates, barriers, and turnstiles fully integrate with our smart card and biometric access control systems, giving you full jurisdiction over movement and access in and around your site.  

Home Secretary Teresa May told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that the findings of a review on police pay were going through the negotiating process. The review of pay and conditions has recommended a range of allowances and special payments be scrapped to save £485 million over three years. Mrs May said when pay made up 80% of police expenditure, and cuts were being made to tackle the deficit, it was "right to look at pay, terms and conditions". Comprehensive user-definable working patterns and rosters are featured in Tensor’s all-in-one Time and Attendance WinTA clocking system. From simple determination of overtime by the number of daily hours worked to the more complex payment of overtime hours adjusted when periodic targets are not met, WinTAnet can supply working rules to calculate the correct result. It contains special rules to accommodate the formal flexitime contracts worked by many public sector employees. Night shifts are simple to define, and both paid and unpaid breaks are easy to define and calculate.  

Health bosses are putting forward an action plan to get workers to set an example over sickness levels and absenteeism. The health board serving the Swansea area said in a report: "As one of the largest employers across Bridgend, Neath, Port Talbot and Swansea – the ABM Health Board should be an exemplar of a public health practising organisation." Statistics for Swansea show the average number of working days or shifts lost through sickness absence was 12.9 days per annum. WinTA Net, Tensor's world-class web enabled Time & Attendance Management System, is the best there is for time and attendance absenteeism and lateness reporting. Accurate information about absenteeism and lateness is crucial for many businesses. WinTAnet provides this information through warning email notifications, SMS messaging direct to a supervisor's mobile or via hardcopy reports. The system quickly identifies missing employees that are expected to be at work and then informs you via automatic email reporting. Alerts via email are also given on factors like manning levels.  

Allowances for senior council officers at one authority will be limited to make savings of £34,000 from year two of the plan. There will be an allowance for the new ‘champion roles’ at Gloucestershire County Council, but this will be capped to ensure that overall the changes will save the equivalent of one cabinet member’s allowance (£17,599), increasing to two in future years. Council leader Mark Hawthorne said: "With less cabinet members and time-limited project champions, we will save money and still get the job done." Tensor’s WinTA time and attendance network handles all frequently used methods of hours calculation. WinTAnet can supply working rules to calculate the correct result. It contains special rules to accommodate the formal flexitime contracts worked by many public sector employees. Workers paid on an annual contract basis can be handled by the annualised hours procedures and reports within WinTAnet. A number of basic rules control how hours are calculated. These include settings to separate "worked time" into different overtime rates and to handle night shift working.  

Last month, Network Rail said passengers were delayed by 6,088 hours over the past year because of cable thefts along its routes. The rail operator’s figures showed the number of theft incidents in the 2010-11 financial year leaped by 52 per cent to 995 on the railways it controls. The crime causes significant disruption to rail services and places huge financial costs on the rail industry. The organisation blames the high cost of scrap copper for increased cable thefts. A Tensor Access system improves security at your depot or office, no matter how exposed or remote it is, thanks to our CCTV, barrier, Access Control and visitor management technology. Under Tensor Access Lite, each T8424 scanner controller can have combinations of up to two T149x access point scanners or fingerprint readers giving you full control over who is allowed access through any controlled point at any time of day. Sensitive or dangerous areas can easily be denied to those who do not have the appropriate security clearance.