Good evening,
I hope you’re having a productive week. Today’s COVID-19 industry update focuses on safely returning to work and includes news of a comprehensive range of COVID-19 site safety checklists and forms produced in collaboration with the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) with additional input from the CITB Wales Nation Council.

I’d like to begin by thanking everyone who has provided feedback on these twice-weekly industry updates. There’s still time for you to let me know what works for you and the content you’d like to see in these emails. Please click here to complete a brief survey.

COVID-19 Site Safety Checklists and Forms
During the pandemic it is essential that the workforce is protected to minimise the risk of infection on construction sites.

We have worked hard with the CLC and others to produce a comprehensive range of checklists and forms that will be available to download on Thursday. We are trying to help employers by providing this information. It will ensure that those who are permitted and able to return to work have a clear understanding of how they can apply the CLC’s COVID-19 Site operating procedures guidance (Version 3) in practice. Guidance on issues such as close working, cleaning and what employees should do if they become unwell will be included.

The checklist and forms will have four parts:

• CC01: COVID-19 – Site operating procedures compliance checklist: An interactive checklist to ensure compliance with current guidance on protecting your workforce on site during the COVID-19 pandemic
• CC02: COVID-19 – Health, safety and environmental risk assessment template: A guide offering example control measures for those required to undertake risk assessment of the workplace and specific activities on site. An interactive risk assessment template is also included in order to facilitate this process
• CC03: COVID-19 – A toolbox talk for construction workers: Designed to be delivered to construction workers by their manager or supervisor. Good communication is essential for health and safety management on construction sites. It is vitally important that contractors, managers and supervisors engage and consult with workers, as it is an effective way of identifying hazards and controlling risks
• CC04: COVID-19 – Weekly site operating procedures checklist: An interactive checklist, designed to ensure ongoing compliance with both established and additional procedures.

On Monday, the UK Government published Working safely during COVID-19 in construction and other outdoor work, a document to help employers, employees and the self-employed in the UK understand how to work safely during the COVID‑19 pandemic. The guidance emphasises the importance of keeping as many people as possible two metres apart from those they do not live with. You can download it here.

Safely Returning to Work
Health and safety is CITB’s top priority, for both customers and staff. When lockdown first began, CITB set up an email to advise and support apprentices and their employers – this is still available. If you have queries about safely returning to work in light of recent announcements by the Scottish, Welsh and UK Government please email: Apprenticeships.COVID19@citb.co.uk.

CITB’s COVID-19 updates page is refreshed daily and includes updates on the full range of our work.

You can also read the range of support measures made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government.

Until my next update best wishes to you, your colleagues and families.

Stay safe and well,

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive

Good afternoon,
I hope you’ve had a good week. Today’s email includes an opportunity to take part in a feedback survey on this update, a refresh on CITB’s support measures for industry during COVID-19 and Billy’s 10 Marathons in May, a unique fundraiser for the nation’s NHS heroes, by a CITB colleague.

Feedback Survey
I want these updates to be as useful as possible for you. To help with this aim I’d be grateful if you could complete this brief survey. Please let me know your feedback on what works and what you’d like to see in these emails going forward. Thank you.

Final Reminder: Call to Action for Welsh Construction Employers
To provide feedback on new construction qualifications, due in September 2021 for 16–19 year olds in Wales, please complete the form on this page (Welsh form here).

Grants
CITB announced last month that it would pay grants for second and third year apprentices in advance. Since then approximately £3.2m has been paid to over 1,900 employers, supporting 3,551 apprentices.

Following industry feedback, we extended the Advanced Grant support to Higher Level Apprenticeships. Over £207k has been paid to 67 employers to support 328 apprentices since then.

Skills and Training Fund
The new Skills and Training Fund for micro, small and medium sized businesses was launched on April 1. To date we have received 263 applications. To apply for funding, please click here.

Site Safety Plus Course Uptake
It’s been another positive week for Site Safety Plus (SSP) remote delivery. Delivery has almost doubled in the past week with nearly 300 delegates completing courses. Over 10% of SSP centres have now signed up to deliver courses remotely. To find the nearest course to you please use our SSP Course Locator here.

Health, Safety and Environment Test App
Our Health, Safety and Environment Test LITE App has had just over 2,500 downloads since its launch on 24 March (details here), with uptake increasing week on week; 45% growth in the last week alone.

Buildathon
The winner has been announced of the first England & Scotland Buildathon – a competition designed to show children aged 5-12 construction’s appeal. Well done to Alice Francis. Alice’s winning entry was highly personalised with a tremendous level of imaginative design and fun. Congratulations also to Gabriel Walsh, the first winner of the Buildathon in Wales. For more information and to register your interest please click here.

Billy’s 10 Marathons in May
CITB apprenticeships manager and part-time football referee Billy Baxter is putting his furlough leave to good use – by running 10 marathons in May! Billy, 51, will run 262 miles in aid of NHS Charities Together. Everyone at CITB wishes Billy all the very best during his inspiring fundraising work. Donations can be made here.

CITB’s COVID-19 updates page is refreshed daily and includes updates on the full range of our work.

You can also read the range of support measures made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government.

Finally, I would like to wish you, your family and your colleagues an enjoyable VE Day 2020 and a lovely weekend.

Kind wishes,

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive

Good afternoon,

I hope your week is going well. Today’s COVID-19 industry update focuses on our Site Safety Plus distance learning, its impact on providers and how quality training is being maintained despite lockdown restrictions.

I also have news of the imminent launch of a site safety Toolbox Talk produced in collaboration with the Construction Leadership Council (CLC).

Site Safety Plus (SSP) Distance Learning
Training providers are continuing to support construction employers with essential training during this difficult time. Early signs show that the five CITB Site Safety Plus learning courses providing distance learning are having a positive impact for training providers, learners and employers.

Reassuringly, the pass rate of SSP courses since lockdown and the start of remote learning has remained consistent with courses delivered in the classroom. In April, the pass rate on SSP courses varied by just 1.48% compared to January 2020’s figure, with May being similar to date. All courses and tests are monitored remotely by CITB’s Quality Assurance Team to ensure high standards are maintained.

I was pleased to learn of one centre which is providing additional support by running a pre-awareness course on ‘how to use the computer for remote training’, to support delegates who struggle with technology. It is free-of-charge and takes place the day before training.

And it was good to receive feedback on the impact of SSP courses from Jo Niblett, Managing Director at Pragmatic Consulting, a Warwickshire-based training and assessment centre that has provided CITB training since July 2017. Jo told us that the courses have had a dramatically positive impact on their business.

Jo said: “We brought in more income in 48 hours, following the Friday email (from CITB), than the previous five weeks, and filled a number of courses. This has had a huge impact on my team in terms of morale and enabling our trainers to work.” Jo said the courses have allowed Pragmatic Consulting to reach a much wider audience; they have gained over 30 new customers including from more remote parts of the UK.

There are numerous benefits to distance learning both during lockdown and looking to the future. It’s important to stress that courses are tutor-led; they are effective and interactive, an online classroom environment that allows tutors to engage with delegates and discuss key topics to confirm understanding. Other benefits, as Jo Niblett points out, include: no driving for delegates or trainers, a relaxed atmosphere, focused learning and a great opportunity to learn new skills.

Approximately 10% of our Site Safety Plus centres have signed up to deliver remote training, a swift take-up given the huge upheavals to industry we’ve seen in recent weeks.

I hope you can make the most of the SSP Courses and all the remote learning standards we’ve made available. You can find an SSP course on the SSP Course Locator here.

Toolbox Talks
CITB will shortly launch a Toolbox Talk, aligned with CLC Site Operating Procedures (Version 3), following feedback from industry. The aim of the Toolbox Talk is to support industry to ensure safety guidance is followed during COVID-19. It also includes a range of other useful documents including interactive site compliance checklist, risk assessment templates and weekly compliance checklist.

The Toolbox Talk – delivered to construction workers by their manager or supervisor – will ensure their workforce has a clear understanding of what the CLC’s COVID-19 safe operating practices are. It will reinforce core basic principles of site safety in a brief, accessible way.

CITB’s COVID-19 updates page is refreshed daily and includes updates on the full range of our work.

You can also read the range of support measures made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government.

My next update will be on Thursday. Until then stay safe and well.

Kind wishes,

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive

Good afternoon,
I hope you’re having a good week.

Today is World Day for Safety and Health at Work along with Workers’ Memorial Day and so, to raise awareness of these themes, this update concentrates on CITB’s work to support the construction industry on mental health, safety, and general wellbeing.

I hope the following resources and links: a blog on wellbeing, information on new online safety courses, and a short video outlining our work on mental health are helpful during these challenging times for industry.

Reaching out for help can be very difficult. But talking and sharing problems can help enormously. If anyone is in immediate crisis I urge you to call the Construction Industry Helpline on 0345 605 1956 or the Samaritans free on 116 123. These services do a great job; they are there to help you.

CITB’s COVID-19 Wellbeing Blog
CITB’s Health and Safety Policy Lead, the Reverend Kevin Fear, has written a blog with useful tips on how to manage wellbeing and support your workforce during COVID-19, it can be read here. As Kevin writes, not everyone is comfortable talking about mental health at work, so the Lighthouse Club, a charity dedicated to the wellbeing of construction workers and their families, has created a helpline app which you can download here.

New Online Safety Courses
The first ever Site Safety Plus (SSP) remote learning courses took place earlier this month. I am pleased to announce that more have been added including the option to book the full Site Management Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS) and Site Supervisors Safety Training Scheme (SSSTS) courses. Please contact your local SSP training centre or use the SSP course locator tool to find a suitable date and time for your learning.

Our own training standards for Approved Training Organisations have been expanded to include 180 remote learning standards allowing centres to continue deliver training – including a range of site safety and mental health training courses. The full list can be seen here.

Video on CITB’s Mental Health Work
CITB Wales’ Partnerships Director Mark Bodger has made a brief video outlining the importance of World Day for Safety and Health at Work and Workers’ Memorial Day. Mark speaks about CITB’s work on training mental health first aiders and how people can help each other in these difficult times. You can watch the video here.

CITB’s COVID-19 updates page is refreshed daily and includes updates on the full range of our work.

You can also read the range of support measures made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government.

My next update will be on Thursday. In the meantime, I hope that you, your families, and your colleagues stay safe and well.

Kind wishes,

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive

Good afternoon,
I hope you’ve had a good week. Today’s update collates, in one email, the most essential information on CITB’s support to industry during COVID-19. I hope the summaries and signposting links below on themes including grants, funding and our support to families and children during the pandemic, are helpful.

The Levy: As you know CITB suspended levy payments for an initial period of three months in response to employers’ cash flow concerns. We will continually review Levy collection.

Apprentices: Over 10,300 apprentices and their employers have been contacted by our Apprenticeship officers to make them aware of support available. CITB’s Partnerships Team also signposted over 1,000 employers to support details here and sought to address their needs. Online learning tools and a dedicated helpline were set up for apprentices. More here.

Grants: Apprentice attendance grants for years 2 and 3 have been advanced. Over £2.5m has been paid to approximately 1,500 employers, supporting over 2,500 apprentices since April 6. Following industry feedback we extended our Advanced Grant support to Higher Level Apprenticeships. Almost £62K has been paid to 31 employers to support 87 apprentices since April 7.

Funding: Our Skills and Training Fund has been refreshed to help micro to medium-size businesses with sustainability and skills. Approximately 100 applications from Training Groups, Small & Micro and Medium businesses have been received in the two weeks since the scheme opened. Since our new £5m Leadership and Management Development Fund was launched on Monday a number of large businesses have been in touch ahead of June’s application deadline.

Buildathon: Our Go Construct Buildathon competition starts next week, details here. It will support families and children (aged 5-12) – the next generation of construction workers – in a fun and challenging way. To date we’ve received over 160 registrations.

Remote Learning: Twenty-two courses are currently eligible for remote learning – with more to be announced next week. These courses are available to Approved Training Organisations (ATOs), including the Site Safety Plus Health and Safety Awareness and Site Supervisors’ Safety Training Scheme & Site Management Safety Training Scheme refresher courses. To date we have received over 70 notifications to run Site Safety Plus Courses remotely, with 25 courses already having successfully taken place.

Approved Training Organisations (ATOs): CITB has extended the time ATOs have to deliver “assured” courses from 30 to 90 days, more information here.

CITB’s re-sizing and operating costs: Like many businesses, we are temporarily reducing the size of our organisation during this period (by approximately 50%) to ensure we balance maintaining a level of service to customers, while protecting industry funds. There are measures in addition to furlough being taken such as reduced hours and pay cuts from colleagues and other operating cost reductions.

CITB’s COVID-19 updates page is refreshed daily and includes updates on the full range of our work.

To read the range of support measures made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government.

As you can see a range of urgent changes have taken place at CITB within the last month and these together with additional customer suggestions will be kept under close review. In particular the Levy situation is being reviewed and discussed with Government. I’d like to thank the CITB team and our many industry partners for their hard work during a time of crisis. Now that we have launched and made available the major interventions, I will be issuing two industry updates per week, rather than daily. In the meantime, I hope you have a lovely weekend and you and your families stay well.

Kind wishes,

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive

Good evening,
I hope you are keeping safe and well as these days of lockdown continue. Today my update on CITB’s support to industry during COVID-19 focuses on how we have been gathering employer feedback to help improve the products and services we have available during these tough times.

Acting on Feedback
During this time many of you will have been contacted by CITB’s Partnership or Apprenticeships teams. I can assure you that this feedback directly influences the changes and developments we have carried out over the past weeks.

We’ve received positive feedback about the interventions we’ve made including the levy suspension. We are continuing to review all plans and levels of support, as well as talk to Government about what support is needed by the sector during this crisis and beyond.

The CITB Nations Councils continue to meet and provide our Board with vital sectors intelligence and suggestions. The first meeting in this latest round took place this morning in Wales, digitally, and we will see the England and Scotland councils meet in the next few weeks and look forward to hearing their collective voice.

We receive regular feedback from employers on refresher and renewal courses. CITB has enabled SMSTS and SSSTS refresher courses through remote learning – find your local Site Safety Plus training centre through the SSP course locator. We are also reviewing a number of standards that will support training through remote learning.

CITB’s Re-sizing
As previously confirmed and like many businesses, we are having to temporarily reduce the size of the organisation during this period, in line with our activity. We are in the process of reducing staffing levels by approximately 50% to ensure we maintain a level of service to our customers, while protecting industry funds as much as possible.

We are aware many of you will have taken similar steps in recent weeks and for us this comes at the end of an extremely busy few weeks of activity, where many colleagues in the CITB team have worked tirelessly to make possible many of the support measures I have previously shared, and as quickly as we could.

In summary, I’d like to thank you for your feedback which we welcome as this has helped shape our immediate response. I would also like to thank all those colleagues within CITB that have made it happen. I confirm we will keep you updated with how things are continuing to develop in the coming days and weeks.

CITB’s COVID-19 updates page is being refreshed daily and includes information on a range of subjects including Grants, Funding and the National Construction Colleges (NCCs).

To read the range of support measures made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government.

Kind wishes,

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive

As you are all no doubt aware due to the current Covid-19 situation our office is closed, and we are working from home.  Consequently we are unable to send out training certificates, once we return to normality posting of certificates will be high priority for us

 

Good afternoon,
I really hope you’re keeping well. Today my update summarises CITB’s support for industry since the outbreak of COVID-19 and looks ahead to the launch of our £5m Leadership and Management Development Fund next Tuesday. Covering all of this support means the update is little longer than usual, I hope that’s OK.
CITB’s support for industry – a summary
As the COVID-19 outbreak has developed, CITB has listened to industry feedback and acted quickly to support employers during the crisis. I have made a video summarising our support to industry in recent weeks. You can watch it here.
One of the biggest concerns employers told us they faced was cash flow. To help employers:

• CITB suspended levy payments for an initial period of three months to give firms breathing space and financial relief during the coronavirus crisis.
• We refreshed the Skills and Training Fund expanding its scope, size and availability to help micro, small and medium size businesses with business sustainability and skills retention – key concerns during the Covid-19 crisis.
• We brought forward the apprentice grants for years 2 and 3 . As of Monday (6 April) we received 1,800 applications, with £975,000 already paid out to employers, with the sum now approved being over £1M.
• We have made a range of courses available through remote learning including delivery of the Site Safety Plus Health and Safety Awareness course, SMSTS and SSSTS refresher courses You can find more from your local centre via the SSP course locator.
• We have seen hundreds of downloads of our new, free Health, safety and environment (HS&E) Test Lite apps for in-house interim testing to see if an employee is safe to work on site.
• After listening to industry feedback, we extended our Advanced Grant support to Higher Level Apprenticeships. Advanced Grant is now available for apprentices in their final year of a higher level apprenticeship. This means we are supporting employers with apprentices who are close to achieving their higher apprenticeship – full details can be found here .
• Elsewhere, support measures introduced in only 2-3 weeks include initiatives to support business, apprentices, training providers and families. This week we launched an employer support database, with information for construction businesses across the UK, which can be seen here.
• Meanwhile over 10,000 apprentices and their employers have been contacted by our Apprenticeship officers to make them aware of support available. CITB’s partnerships team have also signposted over 1,000 employers to support available and sought to address their needs. They have helped companies to claim grant resulting in an additional £1.2million in funding paid to employers this week, with more being processed.
• On Monday we launched the Go Construct Buildathon competition to support families and children (aged 5-12) across England, Scotland and Wales during the school lockdown. We’ve already seen a good number of registrations and volunteer judges.

£5m Leadership and Management Development Fund
Businesses and federations have urged CITB to make improving leadership and management for construction employers a priority area of support.

In response, our new £5m Leadership and Management Development fund, aimed at larger CITB registered businesses, those with over 250 employees, will be launched on Tuesday. Available for one year the maximum amount of funding per bid will be £100k. The deadline for applications is 12th June. More information to come next Tuesday.
Finally, I’d like to thank industry and colleagues for their wonderful support during these extraordinary weeks and wish you all a very happy Easter.

CITB’s COVID-19 updates page is being refreshed daily and includes information on a range of subjects including Grants, Funding and the NCC. Please click here to view it.

To read the range of support measures made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government please click here.

Kind wishes,

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive

Good afternoon,

I hope you’re keeping well – we’re doing all we can to adapt training to respond to the current crisis to help keep you working, or be ready to return to work as soon as the national situation improves. We are also keen to provide support and opportunities for Training Providers, who are facing a significant challenge.

This is why today my update is on remote learning and how we’re enabling you to keep training by identifying as many courses as possible that can be delivered through interfaces like Teams, Skype, Zoom, WebEx and others, instead of face-to-face in classroom groups.

The first ever Site Safety Plus remote learning took place this week with at least one provider conducting a sold-out Health and Safety Awareness course delivered via video call.

Today we’ve approved delivery of SMSTS and SSSTS refresher courses through remote learning for Site Safety Plus training centres. You can find more out about this from your local centre through the SSP course locator.

We’ll also be contacting Approved Training Organisations (ATOs) soon to support them in training you remotely wherever possible. Next week we’ll publish online a directory of Short Duration Standards that can be delivered by remote learning, while a list of e-learning materials that we’ve funded industry to produce is being developed.

Since last week there have been hundreds of downloads of our new, free Health, safety and environment (HS&E) Test Lite apps (found under the ‘HS&E Test’ heading) for your own in-house interim check to see someone is safe to work on site, described by an employer as “an amazing idea – thank you!”

We also help fund the Supply Chain Sustainability School where you’ll find lots of useful online training and resources.

CITB’s COVID-19 updates page is being refreshed daily and includes information on a range of subjects including Grants, Funding and the NCC. Please click here to view it.

To read the range of support measures made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government please click here.

Kind wishes,

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive

Dear HICSF Members, I hope everyone is well in these trying times, please see additional information below from Liz Hunter of the HSE.

I wanted to tell members that any enforcement of measures to reduce the spread of COVID 19 will be dealt with by Highland Council officials in specific workplace premises. See links below.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/103/regulation/3/made

https://hpspubsrepo.blob.core.windows.net/hps-website/nss/2973/documents/1_covid-19-guidance-for-non-healthcare-settings.pdf

https://www.highland.gov.uk/coronavirus/supportforbusiness

https://www.highland.gov.uk/coronavirus

If members have any queries they should use the Highland Council COVID-19 Free Helpline on 0300 303 1362 and check the Council website for updates. For COVID 19 Concerns in HSE enforced premises please contact the Concerns Team as detailed previously.

Hope this helps and stay well everyone.

Liz Hunter

HM Inspector of Health and Safety

HSE, Longman House

28 Longman Road

Inverness, IV1 1SF

Tel: 020 3028 3369; 07771 380998

Another update that allows ‘essential and time-critical maintenance and repairs’ to all building types that are not planned/routine maintenance works that are safe to postpone.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-construction-sector-guidance/pages/essential-projects/

Please use this link to get a daily update about the COVID19 virus on the GOV.UK website & read the guidance for employers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19

 https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-covid-19-social-distancing

 https://www.fsb.org.uk/campaign/covid19.html

 ttps://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/coronavirus-advice