Tag: UK

The Demand For Construction Management Jobs

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It doesn’t take the intellect of the greatest economist alive to see that the demand for construction managers is huge in the UK at the moment. What might be worth explaining a little more is just why this is so for it isn’t simply to do with rising house prices or a booming market.

The first and most obvious one is that the Olympics are coming and while everyone’s desperately hoping that they won’t be the usual financial nightmare they are also hiring construction managers as fast as they can to try and make sure that it won’t be. Given that this is government work though that hope might still be in vain.

The second on is a little more subtle. We all know from the Daily Mail (and of course industry experience) that the country is awash with Polish plumbers and Czech chippies but this very expansion of a low cost workforce increases the demand for managers in two ways. The first is the obvious one that more workers means more managers. The second and less obvious is that a lowering of the costs of labour means that there’s more money to go somewhere: obviously this isn’t going to the buyers in the form of lower prices and similarly, some of it is spilling over into the hiring of those specialist managers that everyone’s always had a hankering for but could never really afford before.

The third thing driving the increased demand for construction managers is the way in which the industry is becoming ever more complex. Where health n’ safety used to mean hard hats and decent scaffolding there are now dedicated managers on every site tasked with nothing other than making sure the detailed rules are followed. Similarly, the increasing complexity of environmental regulation is meaning greater demand for such specialists. Whether such detailed rules are really needed is another matter but there can be no doubt that they’re driving up the demand for skilled managers in the construction industry.

We at Talisman also have another source of information of course. As experts in the sourcing and provision of managers to the construction industry we can see what demand is simply by monitoring what is crossing our desks. As we as recruitment specialists are, well, as you might think is obvious, recruiting people for the industry, we can see that demand is going up when our clients are tasking us with finding more such managers. The answer here is, yes, there is indeed strong demand for those looking for construction management jobs.

The Uk Construction Trade’s Decline

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There is some dangerous news for those of you who step into your protective overalls for every day on the construction site every morning. Analysis by the Construction Merchandise Association (CPA) has shown that the construction business is going to continue declining for three a lot of years. Output is anticipated to fall by virtually 10 % this year and another four % the following year. This forecast is a lot of grimmer than previous reports and if this decline happens as predicted, it will be the most important decline in 30 years.

Chief executive of CPA Michael Ankers said, “The speed of decline is having a dramatic impact on many elements of the construction industry and is being driven by an unprecedented reduction in personal sector investment resulting from the credit crunch and economic downturn.”

The credit crunch affects all business sectors, significantly the motor and property industries, and the development industry is certainly no exception. The house building and repair sectors are the toughest hit with house starts expected to fall to their lowest level since the fifties and maintenance and residential improvements expected to fall by 15 % this year alone.

In addition to the present grim forecast, past construction output speaks volumes. Within the last 3 months of 2008, construction output within the UK came to ?19.3 billion which is ?1.5 billion down from the identical time period in 2007. But, the total output for 2008 was just about on par with the overall output for 2007.

However, construction output in some areas is seemingly to extend in the following years. Rail construction work ought to increase dramatically in the subsequent five years; the CPA report has predicted that it can increase by a hundred ninety%. Additionally to the current, public construction that is not housing-connected will go up by over 20 p.c in the following 2 years. Michael Ankers has asserted that the only sectors where construction output is forecast to extend are linked to public spending.

Spending on construction for education is expected to extend by nearly 30 p.c in the next 2 years, mainly because of the Building Colleges for the Future programme. The development trade is relying heavily on public spending throughout the recession. Luckily for those utilized within the trade, spending on public construction comes creates significantly more employment than different sectors of the trade and mainly British merchandise are used. This is often really the silver lining of the recession storm cloud for the trade and the well-developed British public sector is to thank for this.

Construction & Building Site Accidents

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Summary: An informative article about Construction and Building Site Accidents and Safety at the workplace

Safety on work sites is essential, not only for the sound health of employees, but also for the smooth working of the company. It is the duty of the employer to take care of the safety and health issues of its employees that may hamper them at their work place. Legally speaking, it is also necessary on the part of the employer to report incidents or accidents at the workplace and also pay the employee a contractual or a legal sick pay in case the employee is entitled for the same or if they need some time off from work because of some accident at the workplace. Working in office is still quite a safer option, but for those who are employed in construction firms, the risk for construction and building site accidents are even more.

Work-related diseases, accidents and incidents should all be reported by the employer to the Incident Contact Centre of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Death, disease, injuries and incidents, both major and minor, if it hampers the normal working of employees is entitled to be reported for sure. A risk assessment program should be conducted by the employer so as to see what precautions and changes are required in order to ensure safety on work sites for both visitors and employees. It is also a good idea for the employers to maintain an accident book that records all accident and injuries suffered by employees at the workplace for providing the claims for the benefit of employees. This also can help the employer track down the main cause of major accidents and reduce their possibility in future by taking various preventive measures for them.

There are personal injury compensation claims that can be asked for construction and building site accidents in case the employee succeeds in providing enough evidences to prove the cause of the accident to be the negligence of the employer. These claims helps an employee get a monetary compensation for the source of income if lost by them in future due to the accident at the workplace, expenses for the treatment of injuries and other such monetary issues that relate to the accident.

Hence, safety on work sites is the right of employees and the employer is entitled to provide it, so as to avoid unnecessary accidents and compensation claims by employees in future. Therefore, it is important for everyone to be aware of all such rights so as to stand for it at the time of need.

About the Author:

Ian Hass is owner of Excalibur Solicitors, an experienced UK law firm specialising in all forms of Compensation. Excalibur Solicitors handles claims for Accident Types including Whiplash Injury, Construction and Building Site Accidents and Accidents at Work compensation claims.

Why Are Risk Assessments Important For The Construction Industry

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The construction industry is an area that is full of potential risks and therefore a thorough risk assessment is essential for any project. The construction industry is one that has the potential for a wide range of health and safety issues to rear their head, and carrying out a risk assessment is one way to ensure that the chance of any incidents occurring is as small as possible, protecting everyone involved with the project.

Risk assessments not only involve identifying potential risks of a construction project but also weighting these against numerous other factors, including contractual obligations, financial constraints and the requirements of the proposed projects. It is important to consider the health and safety risks of a construction project in conjunction with these other factors and not as singular problems that are not affected by other aspects of the construction project, doing this could mean leaving yourself open to other risks you may not have initially considered or prepared for.

There are numerous qualified health and safety consultants that can be employed to carry out professional and thorough health, safety and risk assessments and have experience in a wide range of settings, including within the construction industry. Having an expert carry out a risk assessment on any construction project is imperative, especially as construction is often considered a high risk area, and these risk assessments can highlight issues that you may not have even considered could be a risk or potential problem, allowing you to prepare for potential problems and minimise the chance of them occurring.

Often to coincide with risk assessments many companies further this by employing the same companies to carry out air testing of the environment after project completion to ensure it meets and complies with UK building regulations. There are specialist risk assessments and air testing companies across the country that have experience in a number of fields including the construction industry. These often provide services locally, for example specialising in risk assessment in the Dorset area and air testing Bournemouth.

When undertaking any project, whether this is a construction project or any other one it is imperative to consult with experts and have a thorough and complete risk assessment carried out prior to starting. And by contacting the experts you can ensure that all the risk have been evaluated and health and safety measures have been put in place to reduce the risks to everyone involved.

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How Will A Construction Phase Plan Template Could Save You Money

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In the past, before health and safety legislation, construction sites were a risky place to be. Staff on these sites were risking their life and physical health, because there was no protection from hazards, and no risk assessments before the work began so as to stop accidents from occurring. Eventually, a lot of people were killed or seriously hurt that governments were forced to bring in health and safety procedures in order to guard people as they worked. This is the cause why health and safety plans must be involved on every construction site in the UK, and in much of the Western world.

However, for construction site owners and contractors, drawing up a construction phase safety plan can be really hard. Without a proper education in health and safety procedures, and with no genuine knowledge of drawing up legal and formal credentials, it will be a real struggle for them to make the plans. They usually neglect it until the last minute, and this can be a grave mistake, because a missing, inaccurate or incomplete health and safety plan could get the contractor into serious trouble.

Devoid of this plan, construction site owners, managers and first contractors are all liable, which means they could be forced to pay compensation in the event of any accident. This could cost thousands, if not tens of thousands, of pounds for every claim. Using somebody to create the plan for you can also mean paying through the nose for the health and safety document.

The simplest solution to the matter of drawing up a plan is to employ a construction phase health and safety plan template. These are intended to permit you to form the required documents yourself, simply by following a pre-arranged format. The construction phase health and safety plan template can employ a series of queries to select the legislation that you need to include in your document, and remove something that is not required to the actual project.

The construction phase health and safety plan template is more cost effective than bringing in an expert to write the document for you, however it’s also better than writing the document yourself, which might expose you to liability. By choosing to employ a construction phase health and safety plan template, you can save money on creating the document, however even protect yourself against compensation pay-outs. This provides you the best of both worlds, and permits you to produce a document which is totally compliant with the health and safety needs of the HSE.