The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has announced the update of its training courses as part of its ongoing effort to standardise training quality
The CITB training course updates come as a result of a pilot in July 2023, whereby the group sought to standardise and improve plant training standards.
The standards were developed with industry working groups, including employers, training providers, and federations.
The updates seek to improve plant operator quality
The updates will help to ensure that plant operators will be more competent and ready for work, having been trained by experts and are up-to-date with the latest technology and operating the plant sustainably.
This will also mean that employers see a return on investment in the training.
Alasdair Reisner, chair of the Plant Sector Representative Organisation (PSRO) and CEO of CECA, said: “The PSRO – consisting of seven major construction plant-user federations – was set up by employers and their representative bodies to drive consistency for operational standards and certification through card schemes. The PSRO has worked with CITB throughout the process of developing these new training standards and supports their use within the construction sector.”
Christopher Simpson, head of quality and standards at CITB, said: “These changes will help standardise and improve the quality and consistency of plant training; increase the amount of plant training that takes place before testing; and increase the number of people trained in plant operations, particularly new entrants to construction.”
The CITB training course updates have been a year in the making
The first phase of the changes saw new standards put in place for several plant vehicles, including excavators, forward and rear tipping dumpers, ride on rollers, telescopic handlers, industrial forklifts, plant and vehicle marshallers, and slingers and signallers.
The first phase also saw three smaller grants for practical and theory tests and short course training rolled into one single grant for CITB-registered employers in an effort to streamline the process.
The grants are spread across tiers relating to what aspect of working at a plant the employee will receive training for. The grants for tier 1 are £550 for novices, £250 for experienced, and cover ride-on rollers. The grants for tier 2 are £630 at novice, £300 at experienced, covering forward and rear tipping dumpers, telescopic handlers, industrial forklifts, plant and vehicle marshallers, and slingers and signallers. Tier 3 grants come to £880 for novices and £470 for experienced, covering excavators.
At the time, Christopher Simpson, head of quality and standards at CITB, said: “I’m delighted we have introduced these new standards, which will improve plant operations throughout England, Scotland, and Wales.”
The update comes as part of a wave of improvements for plant workers
Plant work has been seeing a number of upgrades intended to improve and diversify its workforce over the course of the year.
In March, the Scottish Plant Owners Association launched the Women in Plant Working Group, a group aimed at driving change and allowing plant work to be more attractive to women.
This will be achieved through promoting an understanding of the issues that affect women in the construction industry, especially in health and wellbeing, as well as supporting women’s careers through training opportunities.
The updates come off the back of last year, when the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) launched a Labour Forecasting Tool, predicting that the industry will require 40,000 workers over the next four years to close the skills gap.
Improvements to existing training will help to close the skills gap being felt across the industry, along with new initiatives such as apprenticeship skills hubs, and ensure that the construction workforce can continue to grow and meet targets, including the government’s target of 1.5m houses by the end of their term.
