The construction industry, fighting for survival after pandemic lockdown losses, now cannot afford any costly site mishap caused by untrained staff, says John Roxburgh, senior lecturer at The Concrete Institute’s School of Concrete Technology.

“In construction, it is now a question of survival of the fittest. Despite limited budgets, companies large and small, somehow need to find the budget for staff training to add weight to their tenders and win new contracts. Property-owners and other decision-makers will now, as never before, intensely verify a company’s skills and experience before entrusting new construction projects to them – and here the level of staff training and competence will be a decisive factor,” Roxburgh states.  

 “Concrete work on site is a major cost in all building and civil engineering contracts.  With trained staff - competent in all the required aspects of concrete practice - clients will know that contracts are most likely to be completed economically and trouble-free. Trained staff give construction companies the edge: without basic technological skills, such businesses will struggle to perform to specifications and survive a future that will be challenging for years to come. After Covid-19, spending money on training is no longer a luxury,” he adds.

To help members of the construction industry upgrade skills, The Concrete Institute is now offering online courses at a reduced price. The School of Concrete Technology is already geared to present SCT10 “Introduction to Concrete”, SCT20 “Concrete Practice” and SCT30 “Concrete Technology” through online e-learning with supplementary video conferencing, and can also offer SCT21, “Concrete Industrial Floors on the Ground”, online.

“The School of Concrete Technology has over many decades established its reputation as the leading concrete technology training establishment and we now intend serving our market in a flexible manner. We will again offer live tuition after the lockdown restrictions are lifted, but we are now also adapting as much of our current curriculum as possible for future optional online tuition. This will especially benefit South Africans not based in the metropolitan areas where we usually offer live classes,” Roxburgh adds.