The Concrete Institute (TCI) says the last thing that the construction industry needs now is a costly site mishap caused by untrained staff, since it is already fighting for survival after incurring significant losses during the initial levels of the lockdown.
TCI School of Concrete Technology (SCT) senior lecturer John Roxburgh says large and small companies alike need to find the budget for staff training to add weight to their tenders and win new contracts.
He believes property owners and other decision-makers will now, more than ever, intensely verify a company’s skills and experience before awarding projects to them.
Roxburgh further explains that 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.”
To this end, TCI is now offering online courses at a reduced price. In turn, the SCT is geared to present its “introduction to concrete”, “concrete practice” and “concrete technology” courses through online e-learning and with supplementary video conferencing.
The “concrete industrial floors on the ground” course can also be offered online.
The TCI is adapting its curriculum as much as possible for future optional online tuition, which will especially benefit South Africans not based in the metropolitan areas where the institute usually offers face-to-face classes.