Liverpool-based roofers Lacy Roofing is getting £15,000 from the Construction Industry Training Board to train five members of staff to fly drones to the Civil Aviation Authority standard.
The roofers will be trained to use drones to carry out surveys and find faults, rather than getting up on the roof itself to carry out these tasks, reducing risks associated with working at height and so improving safety.
Robots for Roofing is the first project of its kind to receive funding and if the pilot project is successful, it could be rolled out across the industry, CITB said.
This is one of 15 industry-led projects selected by the CITB to share a £5m pot in its second round of flexible and structured funding. The first round allocated £7m. Other winning projects in the latest round include a programme to kick-start the careers of under-represented groups and upskilling middle managers to boost infrastructure development.
Four of the projects are to be led by federations, the remaining nine by employers.
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Nearly half a million pounds has been committed to a project led by Mitie Property Services to train and support 60 adults with high-functioning autism or similar disabilities, who want to work in construction. The funds will be used to expand an existing project, which developed a bespoke training and work experience programme for a young autistic man who contacted Mitie seeking his first job in the industry. Mitie will work in partnership with the National Autistic Society, Remploy, Geason Training and three other CITB-registered construction companies – ASC Scaffolding, Graham Roofing and RL Scaffolding to deliver the programme.
CITB has also approved a bid by Kier for just under £210,000 over 18 months to promote the construction sector to career changers and under-represented groups. The project is a collaborative partnership between Kier, Midas Construction and ISG and their supply chains, in response to labour shortages in the southwest. The project is supported by South Devon College, Plymouth Construction Employers Group and South West Women in Construction.
The Civil Engineering Contractors Association will receive £1.1m over three years for a new infrastructure development programme. The funding will be used to develop a framework that will cover specialist knowledge and competencies required by middle managers in the UK infrastructure sector. It is envisaged that the framework will be rolled out across the UK for all future training. It’s estimated that at least 7,000 individuals will be trained under the new framework over the course of the three year funding window.
The full list of successful bids is at http://www.citb.co.uk/fundingoutcomes
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