A COMMENTARY ON ROUTES TO COMPETENCE IN CONSTRUCTION

Miranda Pye & James Legard, Pye Tait Consulting17 June 2011

BACKGROUND

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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

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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

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THE STUDY

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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CARD & CERTIFICATION SCHEMES

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Construction Health & Safety

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Construction Fatality Incidence

Rate of decline in fatality incidence over the past 10 years

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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

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Occupational Disease – Construction & All Industries Compared 2005-2007

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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

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INDUSTRY PROGRESS TO DATE

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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

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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.

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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

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RECOMMENDATIONS

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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

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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

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New Competence

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Human Factors

H&S Awareness

OccupationalSkills and

knowledge

Site supervisor/ manager - training as mentors

Sustaining of appropriate behaviours

Situational awareness

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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