The company has specified a bespoke man-riding davit rig to provide emergency lifting for contractors draining and cleaning 12m deep water holding tanks at United Utilities’ Wybersley treatment works in Stockport.

The Wybersley site provides 70 million litres of water a day for 340,000 people and local industry in the Stockport area.

Speedy supplied the davit rig in consultation with equipment suppliers UCL after an on-site health and safety assessment highlighted the need for a fail-safe rescue system to lift contractors out of the water tanks in an emergency.

It is the first system of its kind supplied by Speedy Lifting and will be onsite for the 10-week duration of the project.

Speedy Lifting’s clients are Costain, Galliford Try and WS Atkins – the joint venture partners responsible for delivering United Utilities’ five-year asset management programme (AMP4) of water and wastewater treatment infrastructure works.

Speedy Lifting, which claimed to have an annual turnover of almost £20million, is the UK’s leading provider and hirer of specialist lifting, materials handling and safety equipment. The business serves customers across a wide range of sectors including construction, civil engineering, ports and ship repair, petrochemical and manufacturing industries.