Yorkshire & Trent member, BOSA Contracts Ltd specialises in structural waterproofing projects including concrete repair, floor coating and building restoration.
The company sets immense store by training, believing that health and safety is the key to successful contracting as it instills attention to detail and professionalism from director to site level. Its impeccable safety record is testament to its continuous training programmes which are supported by the FMB Training Department, CITBConstruction Skills and the HSE.
Master Builder’s Nicky Rogers spoke to Bosa’s Safety Director, Richard Walker to see how he delivers on-going training to everyone in the company without losing income.
Bosa Contracts Limited was established in March 1995 by Richard Walker, Bob Anelay (now retired) and Steve Mitchell. They all had extensive site and management experience in the Sika tanking, concrete repair and resin protection industry and wanted to develop a business that could offer these specialist solutions safely, on time and within budget and hopefully make a reasonable living to boot.
Richard Walker joined the construction Industry in 1971 after leaving school. He opted for site management rather than a trade route and firstly passed OND and then HND Building at Sheffield Polytechnic. Throughout this time and beyond he worked for a number of builders and contractors (building & civil engineering) initially in a junior capacity before becoming a contracts engineer / agent.
A pivotal incident in Richard’s career was when a crane overturned in 1981 - from that day, safety became his top priority. In 1983 he joined the specialist sector (waterproofing, concrete repair, resin protection, grouting etc) as an area manager where Health & Safety formed part of his role. Since 1995 he has been a Director of Bosa Contracts Ltd including the role of Safety Director, taking a number of safety qualifications, most recently the Nebosh Construction Certificate Level 3.
Bosa Contracts Ltd joined the FMB in 2004 (having previously been with the NFB) primarily because the MasterBond Warranty would back up their own guarantees, but the company also makes as much use of the helplines on legal, health and safety, and employment matters as necessary which represents real value for money membership. In line with the FMB’s training ethos, Richard said: “Our long experience in our field tells us what “competencies” are required by management and site employees so that we are compliant with all aspects of Health, Safety & Environment Regulations. Everyone in the construction industry, but in particular directors, sole traders and business owners have a legal duty to deliver safe places of work for all who work in them or pass close by. It’s a “no brainer” to get it wrong but sadly many do.”
SUPPORT
Bosa has had a training plan set up with ConstructionSkills for about 10 years. Richard said: “Our local CITBConstructionSkills advisor has been a very useful contact particularly regarding the funding of training through the Levy. Small companies like us really benefit as we generally get more value out than we put in. This doesn’t cover all costs but it’s a good incentive to use it.
“Safety goes hand in hand with quality, so training is a “win-win”. The industry seems to be blighted with snags so at Bosa we have developed an ethos of “snag free work”. The employees are happy as they don’t lose any bonus, the client’s happy as they have got the job they paid for (therefore they tend to pay on time) and we are happy when we have no accidents and we make the profit we planned.”
Nicky asked Richard if his safety record had anything to do with the initial recruitment process, but actually, Bosa doesn’t often recruit, Richard explained: “We don’t recruit that often as we tend to retain employees. But I feel that all employers should induct employees into the organisation’s principles and processes, particularly about keeping them safe and what the site rules are. These don’t need to be exhaustive, just common sense ways of operating.
“Despite varying workloads we generally avoid laying anyone off. We value our employees and continue to pay their wages through the hard times. I feel this brings mutual respect between employer and employee. Getting it right first time without accident saves money and keeps people in work.”
Although Health & Safety training should be at the forefront of every contractor’s thinking, Nicky asked Richard if there was a bit of a dilemma - when staff are training, they aren’t earning money for the company. He said: “We are a small company and yes, when employees are training they’re not earning money. The counter argument is that trained employees working safely, producing good quality, snag-free work are productive and make up on training time. They are not off work with injuries and don’t make claims for compensation, they don’t have to fix faulty work and management doesn’t have to spend hours investigating and writing accident reports and being investigated by the HSE. In addition Insurance premiums are lower and these alone can often offset part of the training costs.”
ADVICE FOR MEMBERS
HSE accident statistics released this summer reveal that 171 people were killed at work last year (with construction and agriculture accounting for just over half of those so Nicky asked Richard what advice he would offer to other FMB members considering implementing training plans for their staff, remembering that many companies are very small. He said: “I believe that there is a failing in Health & Safety law as it states that only companies with more than five employees need to have a written Health & Safety policy document. Many small contractors get around that by using subcontract labour to make sure they have fewer than five employees. In my opinion, everyone working should have a policy document by law. That way there is a legal responsibility to get things right.”
ADAPTING TRAINING
Nicky asked if it was difficult to adapt training to suit employees of different ages and skills and he replied: “We employ a mixture of over 50s and under 30s but where possible we all train together. That way we support each other, with the older guys trying that bit harder not to be beaten by the younger guys who in turn are not fazed by “peer pressure”. Plus, if everyone trains within one or two days it limits the impact on contract work. Planned in advance, most clients see the benefi t of training and actively encourage it.” Recognising that training must be compulsory for all staff – whatever skills they may have Nicky asked Richard how he kept training updated and what is the best source of advice about what he should be teaching? He said: “On Health & Safety the HSE e-Bulletin service is very useful as this advises the changes to Regulations, ACOPs, good practice etc. The FMB also publishes information via email and in Master Builder magazine. Net Regs (now run by Business Links) provides information of Environmental Regulations and good practice. And of course all organisations will build up a knowledge base of what they do on a regular basis and training should be planned against this as well.”
WHO TRAINS THE TRAINERS?
No one can deliver training unless they have a deep knowledge of the subject, so how does Richard make sure all his training is bang up to date: “Standards for Health & Safety and Environmental issues are set out by the likes of Nebosh, IOSH, HSE and other interested organisations. We have found the interpretation and subsequent delivery of training can be quite varied. At the end of the day “common sense” should always prevail even though not everyone’s blessed with it! Training “trades” is often carried out by former tradespeople who enjoy the teaching vocation. Again there are good and bad tradespeople but the fundamental principles and basics of all types of construction have changed little; tidy working, good housekeeping, look after tools etc.”
