A COMMENTARY ON ROUTES TO COMPETENCE IN CONSTRUCTION Miranda Pye & James Legard, Pye Tait Consulting...
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Transcript of A COMMENTARY ON ROUTES TO COMPETENCE IN CONSTRUCTION Miranda Pye & James Legard, Pye Tait Consulting...
A COMMENTARY ON ROUTES TO COMPETENCE IN CONSTRUCTION
Miranda Pye & James Legard, Pye Tait Consulting17 June 2011
BACKGROUND
3
Why Competence?
Health & safety record of construction industry Large sector employing 1.5m+ Relatively high accident/ill-health/injury rates Sector accounts for high proportion of UK work-
related deaths and serious injuries Construction and HSE’s Revitalising Health
and Safety High-level Construction Safety Summit 2001 Set stringent targets for improvements to
construction H&S performance over ten-year period to 2009/10
All agreed that competence is key to improvement
17 June 2011
4
Commitment to Competence Major stakeholders agreed target of fully
competent workforce by 2010 at latest 3 mechanisms to achieving a competent
workforce: Increase scope, availability and uptake of
competence-based standards (NOS) and qualifications (S/NVQs)
Improve processes for documenting demonstrated competence through industry ‘card’ schemes
Regulation – CDM 2007 & ACoP: legal duty on employers, clients and other stakeholders to ensure construction tasks undertaken by ‘competent’ individuals
17 June 2011
THE STUDY
6
Research Rationale
2010 marked the end of the Revitalising targets period for improved health and safety performance in the construction industry
HSE decided it was timely to commission research on routes to competence in the construction workforce and the drivers for improvement, including: NOS and NVQs Card schemes CDM 2007 and ACoP
17 June 2011
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Scope: Routes to Competence A separate, formal evaluation of CDM
2007 and ACoP is currently being undertaken
This project looked at how ‘competence’ is evidenced: Primary evidence by NOS & nationally
recognised qualifications Secondary evidence by Card Schemes, etc
Taken together, these represent the main ‘routes to competence’ in the construction sector
17 June 2011
8
Aims of the Study
It aimed to: Explore how the construction industry
recognises competence in its site-based workforce
Assess progress made in developing and recognising competence since 2000
And to use this information to: Identify potential issues for H&S
performance Consider how such issues could be
addressed
17 June 2011
9
Methodology 2010
Scoping research – key players (50+)
Recent/ influential H&S academic and grey literature
In-depth research (100+ organisations)17 June 2011
Secondary
research
Qualifications and Scheme data
Interviews
STANDARDS & QUALIFICATIONS
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Competence in NOS & S/NVQs ‘Competence’ models and approaches
‘Narrow’ vs ‘broad’ ‘Inputs’ vs ‘Outcomes’
NOS and S/NVQs tend towards a limited ‘outcomes’ approach, focussed on ‘job competence’
Research found a widely used definition of competence in construction: ‘Occupational competence’ - an S/NVQ ‘Health and safety awareness’ verified by test
17 June 2011
12
Construction NOS and S/NVQs SSCs and Awarding Bodies have worked
hard to increase the number and range of relevant NOS and S/NVQs for the sector
We identified 120 full suites of NOS covering the full range of construction trades
This includes 1660 individual NOS units, covering specific occupational tasks and requirements
And, 460 SVQ & NVQ qualifications covering most construction trades/occupations
17 June 2011
13
Take-up and penetration
Number of certificates awarded shows a rising trend in most construction trades selected for detailed study
Particularly strong take-up of plant operative NVQs:1,107 (2005) to 22,889 (2009)
Increasingly high level of NVQ penetration being achieved in most construction occupations
Penetration remains relatively lower in wood trades, bricklaying, painting and decorating and plastering
Manager/supervisor NVQs have lowest penetration
17 June 2011
CARD & CERTIFICATION SCHEMES
15
Card Types
Three types of card/certification schemes: Skills Cards Safety Passports Regulated schemes
These categories are not mutually exclusive, contain different sub-categories and have differing qualification, training, and H&S requirements
17 June 2011
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Card and Certification Schemes Cards/schemes are available for
almost all occupations Research has identified 40 industry
card and certification schemes Taken together, more than 300
distinct levels and categories of card Some 2.6 million cards in
circulation for a non-professional workforce of c1.8 million
17 June 2011
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‘Competence’ in Card Schemes Of 313 cards for which information was
obtained, only 12 were found to be uniquely available through qualification-only routes
Of the 183 cards for which detailed information was provided: 19 make no reference to H&S 87 mention H&S but have no special
requirements 5 embed H&S in an associated qualification 72 have some specific requirement, e.g. Safety
test
17 June 2011
17 June 2011
Skills, Competence, Certification and Registration in Construction and Related Industries
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Card Penetration
Penetration levels vary significantly in different occupations
Penetration is highest (102 valid cards per 100 workers) in managerial and supervisory roles
Penetration is high (average 98 cards per 100 workers) in a range of occupations including Plant Operatives and Scaffolders
However, penetration appears low (35 cards per 100 workers) in wood trades, bricklaying, painting & decorating, and plastering
17 June 2011
Construction Health & Safety
21
Construction Fatality Incidence
Rate of decline in fatality incidence over the past 10 years
17 June 2011
01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10
-30.0
-20.0
-10.0
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
Occupational Disease
17 June 2011
Occupational Disease – Construction & All Industries Compared 2005-2007
23
Implications
Declining incident rates for fatalities and serious injuries
The improving trends are incremental but showing signs of plateauing
Improvements are broadly parallel with those in other industries, but construction industry - Has not met its own industry targets for
improvement Remains one of the highest risk sectors
17 June 2011
INDUSTRY PROGRESS TO DATE
25
Achievements
Steady increases in numbers of workers with cards/registered with certification schemes
Greater number of construction competence-based NOS & nationally recognised qualifications in existence
Greatly increased take-up of competence-based qualifications in most building trades
Sustained incremental declines in fatality, major injury and 3+ day injuries, and declining trend in absolute number of fatalities
17 June 2011
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Issues (1)
Penetration of cards and qualifications remains low in several important trades/occupations
Research shows that the system of card/certification schemes is complex, confusing, and inconsistent, with variable and incompatible requirements
Large number of workers with cards which are not qualifications-based.
17 June 2011
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Issues (2)
Qualification take-up has lagged behind the number with cards/registered on certification schemes – particularly in site-based managers and supervisors
Improvements in H&S statistics, while sustained, have not shown evidence of the ‘step change’ needed
17 June 2011
RECOMMENDATIONS
29
Cards – Towards transparency Schemes need common standards of
competence based on objective metrics
All cards issued only to those holding relevant nationally-recognised qualifications
Need for an independent body to accredit the schemes against the common standards
17 June 2011
30
Competence in the Future
The primarily outcome-based ‘job competence’ approach is no longer sufficient to drive significant further improvements
Other comparable, high-risk industries implement ‘human factors’
H&S legislation and literature requires consideration of ‘other qualities’
Should accord equal importance to situational awareness
17 June 2011
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New Competence
17 June 2011
Human Factors
H&S Awareness
OccupationalSkills and
knowledge
Site supervisor/ manager - training as mentors
Sustaining of appropriate behaviours
Situational awareness
32
Today
Raise awareness of forthcoming strategic review of Construction Qualification Strategy
Consider the recommendations around New Competence and card registration authority
Report and presentation to be available at www.pyetait.com/construction
17 June 2011