Twelve of the UK’s top construction firms have given their full support to a new ConstructionSkills health and safety course for construction health and safety supervisors.
The new course for construction safety managers has received the full backing of the Major Contractors Group (MCG), which comprises 12 of the UK’s largest construction firms. MCG members carry out in excess of £20 billion worth of construction work per annum between them. And MCG has said that all supervisors on its sites should attend the new health and safety training course devised by ConstructionSkills, the sector’s skills council.
The two-day site supervisors’ safety course, which covers environmental and welfare issues, has been devised to provide supervisors with a full knowledge of current UK legislation applying to construction activity.
Site supervisors have two years to obtain the qualification, which will be part of the ConstructionSkills' ‘Site Safety Plus’ set of courses. From 2010, MCG member companies will be adopting a zero-tolerance policy on all their sites with regard to having course certification.
This announcement is being greeted as a sign of the MCG’s greater commitment to health and safety training, and it will result in thousands of supervisors undertaking the course by 2010. Course Certification will be valid for up to five years after which time training must updated.
The Site Safety Plus programme will be delivered across the UK through 130 approved training providers.
The Major Contractors Group comprises Bovis Lend Lease Ltd, Costain Group Plc, Galliford Try Plc, HBG Construction Ltd, Kier Group Plc, Morgan Sindall Plc, Shepherd Group, Skanska UK Plc, Taylor Woodrow Construction Ltd, The Miller Group Ltd, VINCI Plc and Wates Group Ltd.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Kuwait needs to reform working visa bureaucracy – Construction expert
A leading construction professional has called on the Kuwaiti Government to reform its “outdated” visa bureaucracy for skilled construction labourers and construction professionals and if it wants to benefit from an anticipated construction boom in 2008.
The deputy head of contracts and chief quantity surveyor with Gulf Consult, Azad Hossain, says that an acute scarcity of skill construction labour and competent construction professionals in Kuwait needs to be addressed before Kuwait can benefit from a number of development initiatives that have earmarked for 2008.
His comments come in the wake of a recently published Al-Mutakhassis Real Estate report that indicates that the establishment of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) common market and lower income tax on foreign firms would spark a development boom in the Gulf region.
The GCC is a common market comprising six Gulf Arab states, which was launched on January 1, 2008. The participating states are Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. The agreement provides citizens of the six states with all the economic rights in each country, including ownership of real estate, stock, capital movement, taxation pensions and social security.
Further to this Kuwait Petroleum Company has released land for the development of 16,000 low-cost homes and a possible US$14bn railway and underground network point to massive development potential in the coming year. But poor access to competent construction professionals and skilled labour could have devastating effects on the success of these initiatives.
Azad Hossain points out: “Kuwait is unlike the United Arab Emirates, as while there is easy access to building materials, labour problems still exist because of visa procedures. The country is also falling behind in contractual procedures and contract practices”. He elaborates that the cumbersome bureaucracy and unfriendly investment laws have proved to be major obstacles facing businesses in the country, particularly in the construction sector. As a result Kuwaiti property developers have been turning to the wider GCC for opportunities.
The deputy head of contracts and chief quantity surveyor with Gulf Consult, Azad Hossain, says that an acute scarcity of skill construction labour and competent construction professionals in Kuwait needs to be addressed before Kuwait can benefit from a number of development initiatives that have earmarked for 2008.
His comments come in the wake of a recently published Al-Mutakhassis Real Estate report that indicates that the establishment of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) common market and lower income tax on foreign firms would spark a development boom in the Gulf region.
The GCC is a common market comprising six Gulf Arab states, which was launched on January 1, 2008. The participating states are Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. The agreement provides citizens of the six states with all the economic rights in each country, including ownership of real estate, stock, capital movement, taxation pensions and social security.
Further to this Kuwait Petroleum Company has released land for the development of 16,000 low-cost homes and a possible US$14bn railway and underground network point to massive development potential in the coming year. But poor access to competent construction professionals and skilled labour could have devastating effects on the success of these initiatives.
Azad Hossain points out: “Kuwait is unlike the United Arab Emirates, as while there is easy access to building materials, labour problems still exist because of visa procedures. The country is also falling behind in contractual procedures and contract practices”. He elaborates that the cumbersome bureaucracy and unfriendly investment laws have proved to be major obstacles facing businesses in the country, particularly in the construction sector. As a result Kuwaiti property developers have been turning to the wider GCC for opportunities.
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