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“It’s not just about compliance with legislation – incorporating health and safety into a business could save employers unnecessary costs, and increase their productivity – helping them to get ready for forecasted economic growth.”
Despite continued improvement in the number of work-related accidents and fatality rates in recent years, the Labour Force Survey outlined that the construction industry lost 3.3 million working days due to injury and work related ill health in 2009/10, which cost the industry millions in sick pay, overtime, and wages for temporary workers.
Workplace accidents affect product and service quality, customer satisfaction, repeat business and impact on the bottom line, which can have a damaging effect on businesses struggling to survive the recession.
Health and safety training is extremely important for the industry, as it helps to provide a safer working environment for employees while boosting morale and increasing staff retention and profits. Similarly, a good health and safety record will provide businesses with that all important competitive edge, allowing them to succeed and grow.
Overall, the Construction and Built environment is waking up to the value of Health and Safety. The NCC – the direct training division of CITB-ConstructionSkills is running more courses than ever to meet this need.
One of the most popular offerings is the NCC’s Site Safety Plus package. It has an integrated programme of safety training for operatives to those at management level, and provides businesses with the chance to select a health and safety programme that works best for their size, budget and individual worker’s needs. This includes courses such as Health and Safety Awareness, the Site Management Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS) and the Site Supervisors’ Safety Training Scheme (SSSTS).
Course provision is coupled with CITB-ConstructionSkills’ GE 700 Construction Site Safety manual. As the leading industry publication for guidance on current construction health and safety legislation, the manual ensures businesses protect themselves, their people and their profits by bringing together everything that there is to know about construction health and safety training.
“Health and safety is paramount to the success of the industry and continued commitment to training and keeping abreast of health and safety legislation can help businesses remain safe and successful,” Mr Walder adds.
“At the NCC, we work with the construction sector to ensure its training needs are met, placing businesses in the very best position to pitch for new contract opportunities in a constantly changing and fiercely competitive market.”
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