I’m sending out this request for help because we are really trying to help our students here at Lincoln College with understanding all of the issues surrounding mental health.
We have witnessed suicides locally and tragically it follows the national and regional picture. Suicide rates for construction workers in the UK is over three times the national average, with young men in the construction industry more likely to take their lives than older men. The Lincolnshire Suicide Prevention Steering Group analysis of local data reveals that 80% of suicides in Lincolnshire were men, and the highest proportion of people who died were working in skilled trade occupations.
We are asking for Constructing Excellence Members to spend some time talking to our students about all/any aspects of mental health.
Do you have a mental health first aider or someone in your company that would be willing to spend 3 hours with several construction classes to talk about mental health and even share their experiences?
We think it should be normal to talk about mental health and not be scared about any type of consequence! We want students to feel that they are never alone and it’s not weak to speak about their mental health and wellbeing.
Mental Health should be at the top of Construction agendas just the same as Health and Safety.
Please get in touch if you can help and I will send more details.
Regards,
Nick
Nick Pettit GM QGM
Group Head of Estates Development
Lincoln College
Tel: 01522 876000 Ext 6911
Mob: 07939013317
Email: npettit@lincolncollege.ac.uk
As recruitment experts, we know the importance of having the competitive edge when attracting talent towards a company. Finding the right people is difficult but retaining employees in an aggressive market with a shortage of great candidates is just as challenging.
To ensure you’re ahead of the game I wanted to give you the up-to-date industry intelligence and salary benchmarking in your sector, so you can see how you compare. Please CLICK HERE to view the Kingston Barnes Salary & Employment Guide for 2021-2022.
We have surveyed a selection of 1,054 candidates across the sector to provide you with the latest salary information and market trends, providing valuable comparison and information that makes for an interesting read.
The enclosed guide provides an understanding of what to expect from the marketplace right now when considering your recruitment and retention strategy for the future.
If you’d like to discuss any of our findings or have any recruitment needs that you’d like some expert support to help you secure new talent for your business, please do not hesitate to contact me.
James Kingston and Millie Di Mambro.
The Cabinet Office has now published the first revision of the Construction Playbook, which is available, together with associated documents, via the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-construction-playbook.
This is the culmination of 6 months work, which has involved people from across Whitehall and the construction sector, and to which BEIS has made a significant contribution, particularly in relation to the enhanced content in the Playbook and associated guidance on net zero carbon and environmental performance as a key component of a strategic approach to ensuring the sustainability of infrastructure and construction projects. The key points about the substance of these changes are:
- a clearer statement that whole life carbon assessments should be undertaken for all HMG construction projects and programmes, and that these should be consistent with strategic organisational objectives for decarbonising estates and improving carbon performance;
- further guidance on what action contracting authorities should be undertaking at each stage of the process for implementing these projects, from market engagement through to handover and operation, to deliver improved carbon outcomes, with an emphasis on benchmarking, monitoring and reporting these;
- pointing contracting authorities to a much wider range of external resources (toolkits, advice and guidance, promoting the circular economy and contractual clauses – the CIH Value Toolkit is regularly referenced, and we also cite Construct Zero in the Guidance Note) to support their efforts and enable them to embed a more comprehensive approach;
- incorporation of the need to address the provisions of the Environment Act 2021 (e.g. biodiversity net gain), and also emphasising the importance of wider considerations such as air and water quality; and
- additional and comprehensive guidance on Net Zero and Sustainability, including a set of case studies of best practice. We highly recommend the Foleshill Health Centre one as an example of what can be achieved – but we have also managed to include case studies from HS2, the Environment Agency, and also the product platform developed through the TCC with CIH involvement.
We are collaborating with the Innovation Driven Procurement (IDP) Project by sharing availability of fully funded support for SME & Micro-Business Owners in the UK Construction Supply Chain to improve Productivity, Profitability and Value.
CITB funded support in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, Morgan Sindall and Construction Coach to help you.
Learn how to improve site communications with the contractor, your team and sub-contractors
Think about where you’re losing productivity and profits on site
Who is it for?
Business Owners in the UK construction supply chain, the ‘boots on the ground’ delivering on site
Here’s what you need to do to access this support:
1. Sign up to attend an Online Innovation Workshop – this will register your interest in the project
2. Complete four, short, 20 min courses on Collaboration, Productivity, Innovation and Value to start to think about what’s frustrating you in your business. What needs to be improved on site? Do you have the right processes in place to operate efficiently?
How does it work?
Once you’ve done steps 1 and 2 you can then:
3. Join the free, online IDP Community to receive business support from Construction Coach to help embed the learning from the courses into your business and site operations (doors will open beginning of October)
4. Get the opportunity to become 1 of 40 Innovation Champions to receive 12 hrs free Coaching and Mentoring to do
an innovation project in your business
Register interest by signing up to an online Innovation Workshop with Maria Coulter BEM MRICS of Construction Coach and get access to free Training and Mentoring.
https://www.theidp.co.uk/events
Balfour Beatty and the Supply Chain Sustainability School are partnering to run a second survey of the whole construction supply chain to understand the challenges faced and further support needed to deliver net zero. The survey runs until 7 October.
They are keen to hear from as many of the supply chain as possible, so please complete or circulate it to your own supply chain partners: Supply chain survey
The responses will be pulled into a report which will be shared widely across the industry and with customers, Government and other stakeholders”.
In 2021, the Supply Chain Sustainability School and Balfour Beatty partnered to undertake a survey of the construction supply chain to understand how successfully the sector is decarbonising, and what further support it needs from Government, customers and others in the industry. The results were combined with qualitative interviews with companies that were happy to be quoted, and published in a report, Greening the Chain, which was shared with Government and widely across the sector.
This follow-on survey aims to measure progress since the 2021 survey and to understand the impact global issues are having on the UK construction and infrastructure sector’s efforts to decarbonise.
Constructing Excellence Midlands will be showcasing at UK Construction Week, as it continues to improve business performance in the region by driving innovation, collaboration and best practice in construction.
In keeping with the event’s celebration of the culture change in the industry, CE Midlands supports and advances the construction sector with knowledge sharing through theme groups and educational resources.
The organisation also engages with government and major public sector bodies to influence policy and industry initiatives – particularly in respect to addressing the net zero agenda.
Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of CE Midlands, said: “We’re looking forward to attending UK Construction Week as Constructing Excellence continues to shift the percept of the enormous collective value that collaboration brings to construction, at a time where we are witnessing a major personnel change in national leadership.
“The construction industry is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions globally, so it is vital the new Prime Minister and cabinet seize this opportunity with renewed ambition to give the UK any chance of hitting net zero by 2050 – with SCOPE 3 emissions and continued investment in government-procured projects being a key focus that should be addressed.”
Having launched the first iteration of its innovative Diploma in Collaborative Working in Construction, CE Midlands will be presenting certificates to the 2021-22 cohort at the Sustainability Hub at UKCW.
Carpenter added: “We’re delighted to have the opportunity to celebrate the successes of existing CE members and our graduated diploma cohort at the event. The need for collaborative working within the UK construction industry has never been greater, and that education and training in the construction industry must be a key policy to address the ageing workforce and growing skills gap.
“As this need grows, we’re excited to be launching the second edition of our diploma in 2023 and have a built a fantastic course delivery team of some of the leading professionals in the Midlands construction industry – with modules covering topics including the Value Toolkit, designing for the environment, and quality and compliance.
“Following the success of our several clubs in the West Midlands, we are also expanding our outreach through the launch of a Nottingham club, increasing opportunities for construction professionals in the Midlands to share knowledge and network while discussing the urgent issues facing our industry.”
Constructing Excellence Midlands is exhibiting at stand C106 at UKCW and the team will be available for media briefings at the event.
We are planning an exciting array of events and activities for 2023 most of which will provide members and supporters with excellent sponsorship opportunities, please see document attached.
Sponsorship Packages are available for the events listed below (dates subject to change), if you would like to discuss any of these, please contact me via email at andrew.carpenter@cemidlands.org
CLICK HERE to view the full list of opportunities
Download the prospectus here.
CE Midlands are pleased to announce the return of our popular diploma in collaborative construction which will start again in April 2023.
The course – believed to be the first of its kind in the UK when it initially launched in 2010 before relaunching in 2021 – aims to create and educate the next generation of leaders, as well as encouraging new behaviours, positive disruption and technology-led approaches.
Speakers from Bowmer + Kirkland, Freeths and the NHS will be imparting their knowledge as part of the 12-month online course, which will cover topics including design team integration, team leadership and smart construction.
The diploma is academically benchmarked by the University of Wales and launches with a face-to-face meeting at the NEC in Birmingham, as part of UK Construction Week.
Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of Constructing Excellence Midlands, said: “There can be no doubt that the need for collaborative working within the UK construction industry has never been greater.
“Report after report since the mid-nineties have outlined the necessity for collaboration to replace the traditional adversarial culture and for integrated supply chains to replace the fragmented nature of the sector.
“Education within the industry will play a huge part in this, and that is why this diploma is sorely needed. We’re delighted with the quality of tutors we have secured to deliver the course, which takes place completely online to make it as accessible as possible.”
Ele George, founder of sustainable construction consultancy elevate and a delegate on the diploma in 2021/22, said: “I signed up to the diploma because I wanted to broaden my knowledge on collaborative practices within the construction sector.
“The sessions throughout the course were sufficiently in-depth and delivered to a high quality. They included details on each topic on collaboration in construction without being too long that it took a significant time out of my working day.
“Rather than a specific module, what I found most insightful is that there were several recurring themes running through each section.”
