KEY ISSUE
IN FOR THE SKILL
F
STEVE BRAWLEY OF THE JOINT INDUSTRY BOARD (JIB) LOOKS
AT SKILLS REGISTRATION AND COMPETENCE SCHEMES AND THE IMPLICATIONS AND BENEFITS FOR ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS.
or many years now, the drive for competence and safety has meant that electrical contractors have had to become more responsible when monitoring
and reporting the skills of their workforce. Site owners, clients and employers are being increasingly vigilant about who they employ and whether they are sufficiently competent to carry out the work. As a result, it’s now becoming
increasingly difficult to win contracts and work on sites without solid evidence of the competence of each member of the workforce. In the drive to improve standards of workmanship and reduce accidents, registration onto skills certification and competence schemes is becoming widespread as a prerequisite for winning both private and public work. Members of the UK Contractors’
Group, comprising most of the largest construction firms within the UK, specify that all trades and subcontractors are required to participate in skills certification schemes, to ensure that all operatives on their sites hold an appropriate competence card. Similarly, all sites registered under the Considerate Constructors Scheme have to declare the percentage of workers who hold competence cards and have to record details of the cards held by site operatives and visitors.
The JIB has issued competence
cards for many years. The scheme, which is jointly administered by the JIB and the Scottish JIB, is now called the Electrotechnical Certification Scheme (ECS). When the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) was introduced, the ECS became affiliated to CSCS, which allows ECS card holders to work on CSCS sites.
As well as demonstrating individual competence, each card holder or applicant must pass a stringent Health and Safety awareness assessment. ECS cards are issued only after detailed and careful scrutiny of the applicant’s training, qualifications and experience. The public sector is also leading the way in asking contractors to prove competence, with the Office of Government Commerce stating that governmental clients have to include a contract clause that requires all members of supply teams who are workers or a regular visitor to a
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construction site to be registered on the CSCS or an affiliated scheme such as the ECS.
For contractors looking to work on the London 2012 Olympics, the Olympic Delivery Authority has made it clear that all professional and site staff involved in construction of the Olympic facilities will be required to hold a valid CSCS card or a card affiliated to the scheme. The regulations and requirements listed here are just some of the more wide ranging measures that have major implications for electrical contractors as they strive to secure work. Professional electricians who have successfully undertaken an apprenticeship are rightly proud of their ability and the ECS gold card, which accredits their competence is highly prized. Demand for ECS cards has never been higher and the recession has emphasised the value to the individual of being able to prove their competence to potential employers and clients. So as well as being an obligation, competence schemes are also a valuable way for contractors and installers to get ahead of the competition. In today’s ever-competitive market, being able to prove the skills of your workforce could mean the difference between securing a new contract and losing out to someone who can.
Being able to state that you or your
workforce meets a required standard of health and safety awareness and hold competence cards is a powerful and confident statement to make about your company when bidding for work. It demonstrates that you are not only aware of these issues but are also proactively measuring and monitoring your business in this respect, and will stand you apart from those companies who do not acknowledge such schemes. Many larger companies actively manage the process of ECS card renewal on behalf of their employees because it is critical to ensure that each employee has a valid card at all times. If an individual cannot go to work because his or her card has expired, the consequences are costly for both the contractor and the employee. The ECS and other competence schemes are also helping to reduce accidents, which saves time and money for all those involved but more importantly prevents the trauma which
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AS WELL AS BEING AN OBLIGATION, COMPETENCE SCHEMES ARE ALSO A VALUABLE WAY FOR CONTRACTORS AND INSTALLERS TO GET AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION.
is caused by accidents to the individual and their family. Overall we are finding an encouraging downward trend in the number of accidents being reported by JIB member firms; our 2008 annual accident survey showed that major accidents were down by 10 per cent on 2007 figures, with an overall 70 per cent reduction in accidents since 2001. In order to truly monitor and
regulate the professionalism of the
electrical contracting industry, the JIB is now working with industry representatives to develop a ‘licence to practice’ framework, based on the Electrotechnical Cer tification Scheme. This exciting development serves to emphasise the significance of the scheme for the electrotechnical industry and will be an important step towards ensuring our workforce is fully competent. Watch this space.
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