How to improve the construction industry’s image

Construction sites are places of work where time is money and safety is paramount.  

Sites, and the construction industry as a whole, are not noted for their aesthetic appearance or making efforts to enhance the environment.  

But this is changing thanks to the Considerate Constructors Scheme – a UK-wide initiative that aims to improve the image of the construction industry.  

The CCS has a five-part Code of Considerate Practice that all registered sites, companies and suppliers must follow.  

The code’s five sections encourage its construction industry members to… 

• Care about the appearance of their sites by ensuring they appear professional and well managed;
• Respect the community by giving utmost consideration to the impact of their activity on neighbours and the public; 
• Take action to protect and enhance the environment; 
• Attain the highest levels of safety performance; and 
• Value their staff by providing a supportive and caring working environment.  

CCS chief executive Edward Hardy points out that membership of the scheme is a way of demonstrating to potential clients a willingness to aim for standards beyond statutory requirements.  

This helps explain why the CCS has updated its Code of Considerate Practice checklist, which is used by the scheme’s independent monitors to assess and score members’ performance.  

Monitors carry out about 18,000 site, company and supplier visits every year and use the questions contained in the checklist to build a picture of how the industry is improving its image and the key issues it must tackle.  

Changes to the 2016 monitors’ checklist affect all five parts of the Code of Considerate Practice but the most significant cover the Value their Workforce section.  

New questions on the 2016 checklist include: 

• How does the site assess and monitor the legitimacy and competency of the workforce? 
• What is the site doing to improve its image and the overall image of the industry to attract and retain the workforce necessary for the future of construction?  

Chief executive Edward Hardy explains the update: “The construction industry is continually evolving and improving, and the CCS’s annual review of the checklist ensures that it always remains both accessible and challenging for all.”  

He adds that the new monitors’ checklist was introduced on 1 February but scheme members have until the start of May to familiarise themselves with the new requirements before any changes affect their score.  

Meanwhile, immigration minister James Brokenshire has been quoted as saying: “Employers in the construction sector have a crucial and ongoing part to play in helping to combat illegal working by ensuring they carry out the straightforward Right to Work checks on potential employees.”  

As a skip hire broker committed to providing our commercial and domestic customers with the best possible price and service, ProSkips’ approach to recycling has been developed on principles of economic and environmental sustainability.   

We reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill by working with our construction industry customers to increase the quality and quantity of materials that kept out of skips.  

The skip hire firms we work with also separate the different waste streams and recycle all of the wood, metal, paper products, plasterboard and glass that are in the loads they remove.  

To get the best possible price for your skip hire needs, contact ProSkips today.