The Health and Safety Executive have revealed that the number of workers killed on construction sites in the year April 2010 to March 2011 was 50, and increase on the previous year which recorded 41 deaths.
These stark figures are a reminder to employers of the importance of staff training and ensuring that their employees are effectively equipped and given suitable safety procedures.
At Construction Skills we place safety at the heart of our training programmes, but know form experience how lessons learned in the ‘classroom’ can be forgotten if not constantly enforced.
Simple problems can arise form the fact, for example, that safety signs on site can fade and become illegible over time, so both employers and employees need to maintain constant vigilance.
A building site in the north east has recently hit the headlines after it erected a sign calling for visitors to the construction area to adhere to a nine and a half miles an hour speed limit. This was seen as a innovative way of trying to get people to take notice of the limit on the basis that experience shows that when a ten mile per hour sign is put in place it typically is ignored.
This blog piece is a call for innovation in putting in place safety measures and an invitation for anyone with innovative ideas to make comment and add to the debate.
An interesting article here from the head of Travis Perkins indicating how he believes the austerity measure currently in place are inhibiting the recovery in the construction sector.
There has been a significant decline in the number of young workers entering the construction industry since the recession hit in 2008, which has led to a call from UCATT (Union of COnstruction, Allied Trades and Technicians) for the Government to overhaul its policy relating to apprenticeships. Despite government’s claim that it is keen to promote apprenticeships UCATT claim that efforts are failing.
Latest figures from CITB-Construction Skills indicate that the numberof 16-19 year olds employed in construction has declined significantly from 119,330 in 2008 to 56,781 in 2010, whilst the number of 20-24 year olds now stands at 213,634 from 250,929 in 2008.
At the other end of the spectrum the number of workers over 60 has remained virtually unchanged.
The implications of this in the long term are potentially devastating, as given the relatively strenuous nature of jobs within construction there is a need to recruit and develop younger talent for the future.
The Government has a target to create 250,000 apprentices per annum but UCATT argue that policies in place are mitigating against this.
Interestingly, despite the growth in the construction sector remaining relatively weak it’s estimated that the industry still needs 30,000 new recruits each year.
When the economy is under pressure and company’s are feeling the pinch on their bottom line, the instinctive, and most would argue, logical thing to do is head for the red pen and start a focus of cost restraint and cost cutting.
This usually starts by taking a look at expenditure that fits in to the category of non essential or non business critical. Inevitably training typically falls into this pot and as a result there has been a significant drop in expenditure on training in recent years within the construction industry.
However, many companies are now beginning to revisit the wisdom in doing this and are recognising the need to re-skill in order to be prepared to take advantage of new opportunities as they begin to present themselves.
An interesting article in www.building.co.uk examines three companies who have recognised and acted on the need to ensure sufficient investment in skills in order to thrive in the marketplace.
The full article can be found here.
The industry training group, ConstructionSkills (www.cskills.org) had recently indicated a marginal recovery in the construction sector with a slight increase in the uptake of new apprenticeships.
Pre recession apprenticeship starts numbered 24,400 per annum, but last year this number had declined to 18,500. This mirrored a reduction in output from £112.4 billion in 2007/2008 to £98.5 billion in 2009/2010.
Latest figures indicate that apprenticeship numbers have shown an increase to 19,500 which again mirrors the recent increase in output to £102.8 billion.
On a separate note, according to the results of a survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Building a skills crisis is jeopardising recovery in the construction industry. The implications of this are that anyone who takes the time to invest in the development of their own skill levels is likely to gain significant advantage in the market place as the recovery in the construction sector begins to gain some momentum.
This point is further highlighted by the reports that over a quarter of construction businesses in the UK reduced their training activity in 2010, with 18 per cent planning to scale back training even further this year; this the findings of research from CITB-ConstructionSkills.
Bottom line, as in all times of recession, those who continue to invest in training and development when faced with recessionary forces, will ultimately reap the benefit and be able to take advantages of the opportunities presented as the road to recovery unwinds.
For some things look good. With the Focus DIY Group recently moving onto administration other players such as B & Q have been quick to take advantage, witnessing soaring profits from the increase in demand from former Focus customers.
Meantime Tesco announced it move into the double glazing market hoping to take advantage of the poor reputation of this sector, created by the application of hard sell tactics. Tesco hopes to attract custom via its website in a move it sees as away of countering these negative views of the sector.
In the broader economy the Bank Of England took the decision to maintain the base rate of interest at 0.5%, at which it has stood since March 2009. Though inflation is currently above the Bank’s targeted level, it appears that this is seen as something to combat further done the road to recovery as the focus remains on stimulating broad scale growth in the economy. Most economists are now forecasting that rates are unlikely to increase until midway through 2012.
Looking specifically at the construction industry it seems growth in the sector slowed slightly in June with a significant number of construction companies still expressing some uncertainty over the prospects of the sector. Some are even calling for a reduction in the VAT rate relating to home improvement projects, as reported here.
Approved Learning Provider Status……..
Recently we have gained Approved Learning Provider status in the MOD Enhanced Learning Credit (ELC) Scheme as well as Preferred Supplier to the Career Transition Partnership. This means that we are now able to offer resettlement training packages for service leavers across the UK. For more information please contact Dave on 01782 837007.
The Training Centre that never closes….well almost!
NEW Saturday Courses. We are now offering Saturday courses in Plastering, plumbing, wall and floor tiling, carpentry and electrical installations. These courses will start in September 2011. For more information please visit www.tradeteacher.co.uk or contact Dave and Louise on 01782 837007.
Plastering in a real world situation……..
Plastering course with training in property. It is now possible to attend a 20 day plastering course that will consist of 10 days training within our training centre and 10 days training within a property which will enable you to build your confidence and skills in a realistic environment.
Your route to becoming a fast track bright spark…….
NEW 20 day electrical installation course. We now offer a 20 day electrical course consisting of a foundation course, part p course, 17th edition course and 2392 fundamental inspection and test course. More information can be found on our website.
From time to time we love to share good news, and if at the same time it blows our own trumpet………………………
We’re proud to be working in partnership with B&Q to design the You Can Do It Training centre facilities, classes and training their delivery staff. These centres are used by B & Q to train their customers in the skills required in D-I-Y projects using products purchased from B & Q outlets. We like to think that if an organisation of the size and stature of B & Q thinks we’re good enough to train their staff we must be doing something right.
Craig Phillips and Construction Skill's tutor Howard Jones at the opening of a B&Q YCDI Training Centre.
For more information on the YCDI centres please visit www.diy.com
Recent reports and data suggest that the construction industry in the UK is heading for something of a recovery in the second half of 2011.
An article by Reuters indicates that there are some positive indicators to support this, despite the depressed performance of the sector in the year to date.
Given this indicator time is ripe to ensure that the construction sector skill base is refreshed with a suitable work force that has benefitted from the necessary trade skills training.
We at the Construction Skills College are responding flexibly to the positive news and ensuring that our course schedules will be able to accommodate the projected increase in demand for training in the coming months.
For more information you can view our full course offering at www.tradeteacher.co.uk.
With another bank holiday right on our doorsteps we’re reminded by figures from RoSPA that some 200,000 DIY related are sustained in the UK each year.
As well as this worrying fact add the interesting statistic that some 5 million UK homeowners have attempted some type of home improvement initiative that has subsequently resulted in them having to put their hand into their pockets to rectify the mayhem they’ve created.
Common problems seem to be caused by DIY activities involving power tools such as drills and chainsaws or projects requiring the use of a ladder.
Our view, of course, is that it’s often carelessness and lack of knowledge that are the true causes of both injuries and project disasters.
Investment in either appointing a suitably trained professional on to the job or undergoing thorough training like that offered by the Construction Skills College will go a long way to making both of these stark statistics a thing of the past.
Feel free to call us on 01782 837007 if you have a project planned and save both money and mishap!
