MACE/UCATT Lewisham College

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to be here with you at Canary Wharf this afternoon to officially open this new Ropemaker CSCS Test Centre.

This is my second visit to the facility. I was invited by my colleagues at UCATT to have a look around the centre in September of this year and I can say with some sincerity that I was very impressed with the facilities and opportunities that can be accessed here on site.

This new test centre, which is delivered in partnership between MACE, Lewisham College and UCATT is evidence of how important health and safety is to our industry leaders and it shows how unions, training providers and professional employers can work together to deliver a project – as great as this, which will have a real and lasting benefit for our industry.

As Chairman of the Sector Skills Council and the Industry Training Board this is heartening.  Health and safety is paramount to us – and deserves its place at the very top of our agenda. I know that people who have been involved in the industry for as long as I have will remember the high percentage of fatal accidents that we witnessed every year because of a fundamental lack of understanding about health and safety and because of a failure to take safety seriously.

Thankfully, times have changed. Health and Safety is now a way of life for the people who work in construction and it is high up on the agenda of our federations, unions, professional institutions, training providers, employers and workforce. People recognise the value of providing a safe and professional workforce and without question, this has helped to significantly reduce the number of work related accidents and fatalities

Last year, new CDM Regulations were introduced and this has helped to further reduce the number of health and safety related accidents and fatalities - down to 79 deaths in 2007. But for a workforce and industry as progressive and important as ours, this is still too many and we need to work together to give our workers the tools they need to do their job safely.

In this instance, the tool that I refer to is the Health & Safety Test, which is detailed in the CDM Regulations and which is carried out on this site. The Test is an approved code of practice, which demonstrates an individual’s basic knowledge of health and safety awareness and helps them to carry out their job safely. The Test is the most popular service that we provide and last year, 420,000 people passed the Health & Safety Test, bring the industry total to 1.5m. 

Whilst this is a tremendous achievement, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We need to build on this good work and encourage more and more construction workers to take the Test.  Qualifying our existing workforce is the biggest challenge that we face in our campaign to provide a safe and professional workforce.

That is why this centre is so important. We need to be able to deliver the Test in a number of locations, so that we can provide flexibility and encourage as many people as possible to take it. The Test can be taken in set centres, on site and in specific learning centres – such as the one here. This approach provides maximum access for individuals wishing to pass the Test, and it also offers companies increased convenience because they can be provided with a full package of training and testing for their workforce in one single location.

This approach also means that avenues for accessing support, including funding for learners is maximised through partnerships. This could include the Union Learning Fund, LSC funding – such as Train to Gain or college funding from other agencies such as Job Centre Plus. This is why this centre is important – because not only does it mean greater convenience for employers who are qualifying their workforce, but it also means that they can access a wider range of financial support from the partnership.

We recognise the importance of collaborative working so that we provide the best service possible to our industry. Increasing the number of Test Centres means that we help more and more construction workers to pass the Health & Safety Test and carry out their daily routine safely.

As Chairman of ConstructionSkills, I am delighted to be here to see the official opening of this centre. Taking training to our workforce and making it easier for them to complete is vital and this partnership is an example to others who have the ability to improve the standards of our industry.

I have always said and will continue to say that ours is a great and important British industry. As employers, skills councils, training associations and unions, we have a moral obligation to improve not only the standard of the work carried out, but also to improve the standards within which we work. By equipping our workforce with the skills and the knowledge that they will gain here on this site, we are making some progress towards our ultimate goal, which is to provide a professional, qualified – but above all safe UK construction workforce.

Thank you.