Keywords
Citation
(1999), "Constructing a qualified workforce", Education + Training, Vol. 41 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.1999.00441dab.005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
Constructing a qualified workforce
Constructing a qualified workforce
Keywords Construction industry, Qualifications, Training
A new system of on-site assessment of construction employees' skills and abilities, coupled with the necessary training to meet any shortages, has been launched by the Construction Industry Training Board.
The launch is seen as a breakthrough in the drive to turn Britain's 1.5 million building and civil-engineering operatives into a fully-qualified workforce.
The board, which has developed the system, estimates that about a third of the people currently employed in the building and civil-engineering sectors have either no qualifications or none that relate to their work.
Specially-trained people, including company employees, will be used to assess workers' existing job skills and related knowledge. The results will identify whether any top-up training is required. If so, the board will arrange, where possible, for it to be provided as part of the individual employee's everyday work on site.
The board says this will be of particular importance for training in occupations such as tunnelling and demolition, for which there are no appropriate specialized training facilities elsewhere. People working in civil engineering and specialist trades like roof sheeting and cladding, piling and floor covering are others for whom there are few, if any, training opportunities away from the workplace.
In other cases, it may be more appropriate for those concerned to attend specially-arranged courses at a separate training centre or college.
Meanwhile, figures collected by the board show that adults now account for three in every ten people starting training courses aimed at those joining the construction industry. A year ago, the figure was one in four. The rise is explained in part by a growing requirement for the industry's employees to be members of a skill-registration scheme as a condition of employment.
The pressure for registration has been caused by increasing client demand for evidence that firms have properly qualified staff as a condition for being allowed to tender for new contracts.
Other reasons for the growth in adult trainees are greater availability of European Union (EU) funds to pay for the development of courses aimed at their specific needs, and an increase in competition for jobs among people in the 25 to 35 age group.