Like any business today will know, there is a growing demand for increased awareness of health and safety in the workplace. While the leaps made in the last decades have been a hugely impressive feat, even more work is needed to help make sure that improvement is consistent. This is part of the unique challenge that the British workplace faces; a constant desire to change, improve and grow as professionals.
Indeed, many large construction firms are openly backing the changes to health and safety legislation in Britain. As an industry that craves intelligence and common sense thinking for long-term prosperity, these developments in the health and safety industry are significant indeed.
Many major construction companies are now entering into long-term partnerships with major groups such as the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board). Indeed, Build UK – a major UK trade body – has supported the continuation of the CITB Levy. With over 40% of the UK trade and construction industry represented by Build UK, this shows that health and safety is more than just a concern.
These partnerships across the industry are pivotal to its long-term growth, development and stabilisation. Another significant part of this, though, is how the industry is helping to extend the hand out to help those suffering from hardship at present. Anyone who is even mildly interested in the UK construction industry will have read about the collapse of Carillion.
This scandal has been a major talking point, and with good reason. The drop-off of such a major company has been an enormous problem for the British public, with yet another major body going out of business. As part of the CITB partnerships which are becoming so commonplace, though, health and safety training, construction training courses and other training programs are being put on for the thousands of Carillion apprentices left without.
What Does This Mean?
For one, it shows a genuine willingness to take over and transform health and safety practice across the entire British public. That's a crucial point to note and should help those who are newly engaged with the Carillion story to feel safer about the long-term stability of the construction industry.
The CITB 'rallying call' to apprentices from Carillion - with over 1,400 on their books - is a major boon for the next generation. With employers being asked to step up and take on more apprentices to avoid a lost generation of construction staff, there's sure to be a major change coming in the future for the industry.
With the aim to find out what Carillion apprentices need to learn in one-to-one meetings with CITB Apprenticeship management, this could be a saving grace for those who lost their roles. The hope is that health and safety awareness can continue to grow in the next generation, too.
With the help of this extra education, training and apprenticeship engagement, the hope is that the construction industry can learn from the Carillion disaster without having to put a generation of eager young workers in a position whereby they cannot get the training and awareness skills needed to perform.