When Health and Safety Manager Martin McDonough joined Galldris Construction Ltd in January 2007, he was determined to put training, health and safety back at the top of the company’s agenda. He said: “A
strong health and safety record is the aim of any good employer. It’s also a
prerequisite of many construction tenders, so I wanted to tighten things up and ensure everyone understood the rules.
“It was equally important to ensure that plant operatives were competent in their role. This was complicated, because some workers had no formal qualifications, despite their years of experience in operating construction machinery. And others, like those from Eastern Europe, had qualifications that weren’t recognised by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).”
Martin realised that the most effective way to achieve both these objectives would be to insist that all site workers gained the industryrecognised
Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card, and that all plant
operatives gained the Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) card.
Finding out about Train to Gain was the answer to Martin’s prayers. He said: “I started to look into how best to get everyone trained up and qualified. It seemed like a monumental
task. But then I received a call from
Construction Learning World (CLW) about Train to Gain and the weight was suddenly lifted from my shoulders. It was fantastic!
“The CLW business development manager explained how the onsite training would work and offered to do all the organising for me. I just had to supply the names, a brief description of each person’s job and details of
where they were working. It was so easy – what’s more, it was all free of charge.”
Each of the learners on the Train to Gain programme met with a CLW assessor on a one-to-one basis to work out their training requirements. The assessor then observed
them regularly in the workplace over a period of several months, giving advice and guidance on the correct operation of machinery and teaching them about health and safety requirements and procedures.
Martin said: “The training was very effective and very little production time was lost, as all the training was delivered by the assessors on
site. CLWhad organised the whole training project and ensured that, after qualification, the relevant CSCS and CPCS cards were delivered to the learners involved.”
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During 2007, around 60 Galldris
employees participated in the Train to
Gain programme, for an average of six
months each. Participants to date have included plant operatives, site workers, tradesmen and supervisors.
Martin said: “The workers were clearly
very apprehensive at first, and didn’t
know what to make of it all. But
everyone has benefited from the training – even the most experienced plant operatives have found it refreshing to be reminded about the safest way to do things. Some have also taken advantage of the literacy and numeracy support available through the programme.”
Martin feels that the Train to Gain
participants have appreciated the
company taking an interest in their
development and are keen to gain
portable, industry-recognised
qualifications. He said: “Galldris is
reaping the benefits in many different
ways. Morale and teamwork are at an alltime high with site operatives taking a keener, more active role in health and safety issues and training requirements. Safety-related incidents on site have fallen by around 20 per cent in the last six months.
“With the help of Train to Gain and CLW, we have managed to upskill our
workforce with minimal impact to
cashflow and work schedules.”
“Morale and teamwork are at an
all-time high and safety-related
incidents on site have fallen by
around 20 per cent in the last
six months.” |
