Disaster investigators get IT help

Government agency the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) has signed a £3.5m deal with Pinacl Solutions to manage its IT infrastructure.

HSL is moving to a new £56.5m facility and wants its staff to be able to concentrate on scientific investigations.

The agency, which works for both the public and private sectors, carries out research and analysis into the cause of accidents such as the Potters Bar and Hatfield rail crashes, as well as conducting biomedical research.

Pinacl Solutions will manage the agency's IT infrastructure in the £3.5m, seven-and-a-half-year contract.

"All the equipment will be moved from the current laboratory to the new facility, and we decided to outsource the support of all IT," said Ian Kerr, head of information system section at HSL.

"This will enable our staff to focus on the delivery of scientific services."

Kerr stressed that round-the-clock up-time is essential for the HSL, as its scientists can be called to an incident at any time.

"Because of the type of work we do, one of our main activities is carrying out investigations of accidents at short notice. We have to make sure our IT is 100 per cent available on demand."

HSL uses sophisticated virtual reality modelling applications to carry out accident investigations. It will procure and integrate technology itself but Pinacl will provide consultation and support.

John Platts, service delivery manager at Pinacl Solutions, said: "HSL made the decision to outsource its IT requirements so that it could remain focused on its core business objective.

"We will be providing a structured IT service which will provide high levels of reliability."