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Hackitt urges construction to start ‘behaviour change’

27/02/2019

Hackitt urges construction to start ‘behaviour change’

 

Dame Judith Hackitt has urged construction not to wait for regulatory reform and to begin changing the industry’s culture immediately. The government has promised to implement the recommendations from her review of Building Regulations and fire safety, which followed the Grenfell Tower disaster, but Hackitt has expressed concern about how quickly the industry will respond. “I said in my review we did not need to wait for the regulation before people started to change their behaviours. That is what we have been trying to push for and now we have that clear message from government that the regulations are going to be implemented in full there is a need for us to underline that. There really is no reason to wait for the regulation before the behaviour change starts to happen.” Read full article.

 

SPRA CEO Cathie Clarke comments “I wrote an article for the January edition of Roofing Today, calling for all those working in the construction industry to follow existing rules and standards, and to ensure that this happens throughout the supply chain. I hoped it would encourage our industry that change starts with each of us, and there is something we can all do now to improve quality and safety.

 

I also have increasing concerns that although the industry continually talks about the growing and serious skills crisis, the amount of proper training is actually falling. There is a simple relationship here – if no-one trains, then there will be fewer and fewer people who are trained. The well-known saying “What happens if I train and they leave…? Well, what happens if you don’t train and they stay..?” couldn’t be more true. ‘Growing your own’ has never been more important and should be profitable in the long run.

 

Most companies will chase the sale for short term profit rather than the long-term gain of investing in training and being able to use the high skills levels of employees as a selling opportunity leading to more jobs and eventually, more profit for less cost.

 

I would like to hear from any contracting companies in the single ply industry that can clearly demonstrate a positive difference in sales and company growth following investment in employee training. We know it makes sense, but people respond better to solid case studies than to rhetoric. Please get in touch if this is you.”

 

See also latest CITB research ‘Construction needs 168,500 more workers by 2023’

 

Source: Construction Manager & Cathie Clarke SPRA CEO