A COMMENTARY ON ROUTES TO COMPETENCE IN CONSTRUCTION Miranda Pye & James Legard, Pye Tait Consulting 17 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

7 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

11 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

16 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

17 ‘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

Skills, Competence, Certification and Registration in Construction and Related Industries

19 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

Occupational Disease 17 June 2011 Occupational Disease – Construction & All Industries Compared

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

26 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

27 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

31 New Competence 17 June 2011 Human FactorsH&S Awareness Occupational Skills 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 17 June 2011