Newsletter June 2010

Annual Conference 2010

Our Annual Conference on 20 May 2010 was another 'very successful' event as rated by the majority of attendees. The conference entitled "The Art of Compliance" was our platform for announcing our new CDM Award (see article below) and included a presentation by Anthony Lees the newly appointed Head of Construction Policy at the HSE.

The conference was supported by our award partners; the Open University Awarding Body and Callsafe Services. We were supported by our major customers represented by Crossrail Ltd who gave us a presentation on their enormous project, and by another awarding body, Cskills. 

The event has become established with a number of customers as a place to meet, network and share similar experiences with the management of CDM and Asbestos.

The HSE presentation updated us on HSE developments. Anthony Lees highlighted the current lower rates of accidents now that we are 'in recession'. He added a warning, that there is a risk as we come out of recession, that accidents may well rise not only because of more construction activity, but because the core skilled staff employed in recession are supplemented by less skilled workers as organisations increase their staffing to cope with increased demands for their services.

We will publish the latest information on this as it becomes available and have a blog for you to sign up to if you would like to hear the information as we get to know it. 

CDM: 3C's Award by the OU

Under CDM2007, the task of managing the competence of staff and resources employed to work on CDM projects is a significant one. For many Clients, this onerous task is either 'skimmed' over, partially addressed or, at worst, ignored. The consequences of mismanaging competence can be enormous. How aware are you of your duties regarding competence management, particularly where your role under the CDM regulations is that of the client?

Within the CDM arena, you can easily find out if a CDM-C is 'competent' as there are specific requirements that a CDM-C must fulfill. There are established routes for CDM-C's to attain their competence based qaulaifications. However, until recently, there has been no formal, recognised, management qualification for anyone other than CDM-C's involved in the CDM Management process; these are the Clients, Designers, or Principal Contractors, Project and Facilities Managers. It is not easy, therefore to prove the competence or otherwise of personnel holding those roles which are all 'required' within the CDM context. Competence in CDM remains necessarily high on the HSE inspectorate's agenda.

The OU and Ai Solutions, following initial investigative work and development by TfL, are pleased to announce a solution for corporate staff in this sector. On offer is a complete package of training courses for employees involved in construction. The new 3C's award in CDM Management will assist Client organisations to demonstrate their addressing of issues of compliance and competence in their organisation. Equally, it will assist Designer organisations, or Principal Contractors, or Project and Facilities Managers. 

There are obvious benefits for staff. This award contributes to their continued professional development. The award is recognised by the construction industry and conforms to the new Government standard qualifications and credit framework (QCF) criteria. Standing for Corporate Compliance and Competence this 3C's award brings peace of mind at minimal cost. The award bridges the gap in recognised qualifications for CDM management. 

If you would like to know more about this new award then please contact a member of the team

Better Process Management for CDM & Asbestos

In these times of general cost cuts and loss of staff, we wish to support our customers even further. It is obvious that with less people on the ground many organisations are going to struggle to bridge the 'gaps' in knowledge as well as trying to continue to do more with 'less' people and funding.

We can provide an evaluation package that will facilitate an 'overhaul' of your current CDM and / or Asbestos processes. The aim is to have a fully documented quality process that can meet your Client requirements, the business needs and facilitate continuous improvement. We do this by investigating your current departmental processes and gaining an understanding of your business constraints; then working with you to streamline things, we agree milestones and key deliverables and document the whole quality process. 

We can help you to:

• Make your business processes more effective
• Encourage collaborative working
• Have your organisation capable of adapting to an ever changing environment
• Focus on your 'key' business issues
• Provide measureable information
• Facilitate Continuous Improvement

For a 'new and fresh' look at CDM or Asbestos Process Management call a member of the team on

01525 850080 or email us on gen@aisolutions.co.uk

MARM

Our next Major Account Review Meeting (MARM) is scheduled for Thursday 24th Jun 2010 and is being hosted by one of our major customers, the London Borough of Hounslow. Our MARM events have taken place over most of the past 14 years or so and represent an opportunity for customers to meet with us as a group to discuss ongoing requirements for product development. The outcome of these meetings has been the inclusion of a large number of features - free of charge - in our ToolKit product to every one's advantage.

We are aware of the privileged position we hold with direct input from some of the most 'astute' CDM management teams in the UK. Please put your name down for this free event by calling a member of the team on 01525 850080 or email us

Excellent Practitioner Award 2010

We are pleased to announce a new nominee for our Excellent Practitioner award; Satbir Gill of the London Borough of Hounslow (LBH). Our award, which was introduced in September 2009 is a recognition of expert, exceptional and excellent performance by individuals using our ToolKit Compliance System to manage the CDM process. Satbir has consistently demonstrated his expertise and professionalism in the implementation and process management of CDM compliance, (using ToolKit) within LBH.

The process of implementing an effective and compliant CDM process across larger organisations is a complex one. Many Clients find the process very difficult because they become embroiled in trying to understand the niceties of the legal meaning of the regulations to them, their peers and seniors. They are necessarily concerned with the consequences of their in-action (including a visit to court or worse). They focus on how they can get round the regulations rather than evolving a practical, well organised, open management system to comply with the law and reduce the risk of accidents. Good examples of this are the time spent in trying to avoid the 'clients responsibilities' and the '30 day' threshold before invoking the regulations. If the time spent on these issues had been spent on implementing a robust CDM process for all projects in the organisation, much time, money and possibly lives could have been saved.

The diversion of good management resource from their key responsibility, managing the process, can have an entirely negative effect on the organisation's ability to perform well. In a joined up working scenario, the effect is amplified because of the missed opportunity to perform well as a combined management team delivering even bigger benefits. The result is the management of CDM on an ad hoc basis. This is deemed acceptable until 'the chips are down' and the post accident enquiry begins.

Refreshingly, there are people in our ToolKit environment who have led and implemented a CDM process across their organisation resulting in compliant, joined up, working processes. In identifying them as ToolKit Excellent Practitioners, they can be seen as experts capable of helping others move the Joined Up Working approach to a new level.

Congratulations are due to Satbir Gill for the outstanding work he has done in bringing a number of business issues to fruition within the LBH. We hope to make the award presentation at LBH on 24th June 2010 at our MARM meeting.

Worker Crushed on Construction Site

Two firms have been fined after part of an office block under construction collapsed, seriously injuring one worker. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the building's designer and the principal contractor following the accident in Kirkham on 14 October 2008.

This is an example of how 'all' principals involved in CDM project can be held to account - not just the Client!

The subsequent HSE investigation found that a concrete block pillar, used to support the first and second floors, had been resting on the ground floor instead of going down into the foundations. For more on this item visit the HSE website.

New Focus on Cuts Required

The new Government is treating deficit reduction as a priority and has announced its first programme of spending cuts.  There will be a ripple effect so that, more than ever, organisations will need to ensure that expenditure provides best value for money.

True, much expenditure already goes through enough scrutiny to satisfy a boatload of 'best value' analysts. But all too frequently in the past, expense cuts have failed to translate into real savings

We constantly see opportunities for organisations to get more for their money. We would love to see the colossal potential savings in Joined Up Working. These savings include,sharing information across departments, across disciplines, across local government areas of interest, in getting rid of non-communicative processes. So often, Joined Up Working is seen as little more than 'a good idea to strive for'; a vision. Vested interests can bar progress. This has been the case in the CDM environment since 1995 when the Regulations came into force. 

The key organisational issue is to discover how to get more done in less time; to work smarter.  ToolKit users have the chance to work smarter by using some of the best tools available to anyone, anywhere.  Even limited cost savings per individual user will have an amplified effect on the bottom line and a dramatic payback over, say, a 5 year period.

'Working Smarter is part of our philosophy at Ai Solutions and we strive to support that same energy and enthusiasm amongst our customers and through our training courses. Our aim is to ensure that all our users receive the individual training and support to allow them to get a return on their investment in a timely manner'.

So if you are looking to get the most out of your budget, you can talk to us and we can help you do this. Call a member of the team on 01525 850080 or email gen@aisolutions.co.uk.

More Information

We regularly receive updates from our customers and contacts about changes to legislation, the latest rumours and so on. We try to be selective with what we pass on and acknowledge our sources as appropriate. If you have information of general interest in the Health & Safety, and particularly, CDM and Asbestos Management arena, then please let us know by e-mail if possible.