Scaffolding contractors have a lot on their plates. There is technical and legislative compliance to meet on every job, while also running and growing the business. This adds up to a huge amount of extra admin – and the obvious answer is to adopt new technologies to manage the workload.
This sounds great, but it won’t solve all your problems if your general approach to training and management is poor. While the right technology will certainly strengthen your approach, you need strong, hands-on experienced management skills to drive success.
People, technology and training
My time in scaffolding started on the tools, and I understand the importance of on-the-job experience, in good supervisor training and development. In my view, this is where strong management and a cultural commitment is critical to commercial success.
At the moment, there’s a clear gap between the ‘technical compliance’ that gets people through their training, and ‘real compliance’ which is about what actually happens on site. Wherever I go, I hear complaints about the ‘quality’ of newly qualified scaffolders. This has led me to think about the way scaffolder training is perceived by the industry.
The current ‘pass’ for scaffolder certification doesn’t tell employers anything about how good the scaffolder in, or how much experience they have. Digital tools can’t help here. Instead, managers and supervisors need to assess the skills of each scaffolder, and have a system in place where teams include both newly qualified and experienced scaffolders, so that there is a positive environment where people can learn safely on the job.
Managing the pressure of compliance
RAMS are typically 30-50 pages long. Every scaffolder is supposed to read the RAMS before work starts, but do they? Not in my experience! So how do we ensure that projects are compliant?
You can certainly use technology to template your RAMS documents. And you can use it to help with distribution, tracking, and accessibility, but it can’t replace genuine engagement, understanding, and accountability on site.
But while digital systems can manage the admin, you can’t achieve real compliance by simply making documents available. You need systems, behaviours, and leadership to make sure that the right information is actually absorbed and applied.
I’ve seen a couple of approaches in the past that work well. One is to include concise task briefings – such as a single sheet at the start of the RAMS – so scaffolders can quickly understand the critical hazards, risks, and control measures before starting work.
Steve Kearney at the NASC, who was my Health and Safety Director at TRAD, created a site-specific, six-page pictorial RAMS supported by TRAD’s full operational manual, which remained available on site for reference. Both approaches keep the essential information front-and-centre without overwhelming teams with unnecessary paperwork. And, most importantly, it allows teams to get on with the work safely.
We have similar issues, in my opinion, with ISO and other standards. Businesses work hard to gain certification, but often, processes and procedures then become diluted or forgotten about until recertification comes round. That’s a waste of time and money, and also leaves the business open to risks, complaints and the consequences of non-compliance.
Businesses need systems that genuinely add value and, once implemented, are consistently followed. At TRAD Group, we developed a bespoke ISO management system, certified by BSI, and aligned with our existing management framework. This allowed us to get rid of additional paperwork and drive continuous improvement across the group.
Digital tools can support this by monitoring processes, tracking performance, and providing real-time insights. However, these tools are only effective when built on a strong framework and supported by genuine management commitment.
Does technology improve communication?
Communication is another area where digital systems are both beneficial and detrimental. I have visited companies where all communication is done over email or WhatsApp – no face-to-face conversations or even telephone calls. This is an area where technology can actually make thing less efficient, in my experience. Emails going backwards and forwards, with people copied in who don’t really need to be involved, can take a long time to reach a resolution.
Picking up the phone can get the job done in a few minutes – and also has the benefit of building relationships. The same goes for face-to-face meetings. They are, in my opinion, critical to team building and professional relationships. Don’t just rely on technology for your communications – you’ll be surprised at how much more you achieve doing things ‘the old-fashioned way’.
Invest in training as well as technology
Technology can be extremely helpful in training and development, where well-designed, tailored platforms can support a training plan. But that’s the key – a business must have a proper training programme in place and an environment that supports it. If you don’t, you’ll find that you’ve invested a lot of time and money in someone’s training, and then they’ll go to someone else’s company to make more of those skills – you lose out.
And let’s look at training for managers. At the moment, there’s no specific training programme for managers in the scaffolding industry beyond the CISRS gold manager/supervisor 5-day course. I believe the NASC is driving changes in CISRS, and I’m looking forward to seeing improvements to the current system. I also welcome NASC/CISRS seeking employer and workforce feedback through perception surveys.
One of the difficulties is that businesses often can’t see the direct results of training managers. With scaffolders, there’s a ‘train to gain’ mentality, which is great – you pay for the training, and you can see exactly the contribution to the business. That doesn’t work with managers, where measurement is much more intangible, and companies can’t always see the long-term value of investing in training – even though those benefits are clearly there.
To summarise: technology brings huge benefits to your business, but don’t rely on it to solve all your problems. That only happens when it’s part of a solid, committed management approach.
This article was originally published in Issue 29 of the ScaffMag magazine.
