Site Management Training - An Essential

By Author: Trevor Healey
Total Articles: 7
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The construction industry has moved forward in leaps and bounds in the last century to a position where staff and workforce are protected by statute when working on any site.

In concert with these developments, which are mainly in the fields of health and safety, there has been a growing appreciation that proper site management training is the only way to ensure that sites are run well, efficiently and with maximum safety.

But while health and safety are paramount, it is management which is actually the key. Without management of people, systems, plant and equipment, all health and safety procedures will quickly fail. Management training is therefore essential for good site management.

There is a considerable weight of legislation which falls within the responsibility of any site management team. Health and safety law is complex because there are many different statutes which are applicable in the workplace. For instance there is general health and safety law, as well as legislation pertaining to specific equipment and specific work practices. In addition there are requirements for accident reporting, ...
... investigation and prevention. All safety management systems, as well as policies and plans, should be included in the site management training programme, as well as systems for safe working and permits where required.

Appropriate training should also cover areas of effective communication so that those who are working on site have an awareness of the potential for human error and can adapt their safety behaviour to motivate others in the way of correct and effective working.

By the end of a site management training course delegates must have an awareness of all the health, safety, welfare and environmental law which concerns site management, know how to implement new guidance and industry best practice. All duties and responsibilities regarding these aspects should also be completely understood by anyone completing site management training. This will include statutory reporting and recording according to the relevant legislation.

The standard site management training qualification in the Construction sector is the Site Managers Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS) certificate awarded by the Construction Industry Training Board, a qualification which requires renewal every five years and a compulsory final examination with the achievement of a 80% pass mark.

A network of CITB approved training organisations now provide construction site management training. The essential topics which should be covered in any site management training programme fall mainly within the health and safety agenda. Supervision of a safe site requires planning and organisation, some elements of control and the administration of staff and the workforce who will use the site. Effective site management training requires the management team also to monitor their work to ensure that improvements can be made where and whenever necessary.

Health, safety and the welfare of workers is the responsibility of the site management team, but another important element is that the site operates economically and productively. A badly run, ineffectively managed site will be an unproductive and unsafe site. Safety is however also a matter of legislation and management will be held accountable for accidents on construction sites should they occur.

For further information regarding site management training and a wide range of courses, please visit our website at http://www.bookmycourse.co.uk.