Save lives through engineering

Misunderstanding has long plagued the engineering industry, something we in the demolition sector know only too well.

For years, there has been misconception among school children that science, technology engineering and maths (STEM) subjects are boring or geeky – and certainly not something you want to profess to enjoying around your mates.

Higher up the education ladder, the barriers are much the same. Courses are seen to be long and hard, requiring high grades to succeed.

Luckily, a new initiative has been launched by the Tomorrow’s Engineers career group.

The 'Save Lives As An Engineer' poster and accompanying teacher booklet are for use with Key Stages 3 and 4. Related to the theme of disaster relief, the resources demonstrate the different ways engineers can be employed in rebuilding and revitalising communities affected by natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and avalanches.

The humanitarian aspect to engineering is often overlooked, and the materials show both girls and boys that a career in the sector can be very rewarding, potentially saving thousands of lives.

The teacher booklet presents classroom discussion topics, links to other useful resources and curriculum-linked lesson plans with student worksheets (KS3 Physics and Design and Technology).

C&D Founder John Woodward has committed a lot of time to promoting demolition as a career choice to school children by taking part in the government-backed initiative Inspiring The Future and writing and publishing his own children’s book called My Dad Does Demolition.

“There is a huge skills gap in the demolition industry as a whole, particularly when it comes to young people. Last year’s announcement of the UK’s first demolition degree was a step in the right direction, but now initiatives such as SaveLives can supplement this by promoting engineering to children of a younger age,” explained John.

He continued: “Many children today are intent on becoming footballers or pop stars, which is fine, but there are also a large percentage of youngsters spending hours on end playing construction-based games like Minecraft. This is the audience we should be looking to attract.”

“If school initiatives can help children understand that there is a direct connection between games like Minecraft and the basic principles of engineering, we may be able to inspire the next generation.”

More information on the SaveLives resources can be found on the Tomorrow’s Engineers website: http://www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk/savelives/

John Woodward talks about the talent pipeline for demolition

Earlier this year, in April to be precise, our very own John Woodward wrote an article for Construction News entitled "Creating the talent pipeline for demolition."

The article discusses how green-lighting multi-million pound construction projects across the country is all well and good, but you first have to demolish the buildings that stand in the way of this regeneration. And what do you need for that demolition? Fresh blood in the demolition industry, especially for technical roles.

The article is well worth your time and touches on recruitment, apprenticeships, education, politics, promotion, and training support. Head on over to Construction News to give it a read.

Apprenticeships…the buzzword for the upcoming election, but are we still missing a trick?

The last few weeks have seen the battle lines drawn for the forthcoming election, with the political heavyweights being wheeled out at various economic hotspots across the country.

Skills, or rather the lack of them, appear to be high on the agenda of all parties and in particular Apprenticeships, with Milliband going a step further by announcing that all school leavers will be guaranteed an apprenticeship by 2020.

In general, this is music to my ears and I think we’re all on the same page in wanting our young people to get vocational experience and qualifications to help make them more ready for work.

However, there is a big ‘but’. I run a business involved in demolition and there is very little provision or courses for demolition engineering apprenticeships and, believe me, our industry is crying out for young blood.

Yes there are operative apprenticeships and both the National Demolition Training Group (NDTG) and CSkills are pushing those hard, but these are more for individuals wishing to enter the sector as a labourer or plant operator.

Both good career moves, but what about those who aspire to become demolition engineers and want to study demolition engineering? Where can they go to get the knowledge? The answer is…nowhere!

Currently, no UK College or University offers this type of course and the Government seems unwilling to provide firms with grants or any type of funding. It appears our industry is not sexy enough to get them the column inches or sway the swing voters.

I estimate we need around 350 labourers, 70 topmen (responsible for preparing a site for demolition), 50 supervisors, 40 managers and at least 50 engineers. That’s 500 new jobs and we probably haven’t even scratched the surface.

At C&D, we have recently taken on an ‘apprentice’ in Matty Bardgett, who is working on complex demolition projects from our office in Liverpool. His education will not be from a college course, but will be through our own courses, mentoring from our professionals and on the job training.

Closer to home, we have also taken on Matt Birch, who came to us for work experience following an ‘Inspiring the Future’ talk I gave at his school. Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to find him a local provider to help with his development.

If he was interested in civil engineering, hairdressing or media studies – all interesting careers in their own right – we’d have tens to choose from.

Demolition is a very skilled industry and a fantastic career, so my message to the political parties would be…’don’t forget the non-mainstream sectors’.

We need the same education and training provision as automotive, aerospace, retail or professional services, especially if you don’t want troublesome buildings or structures preventing future infrastructure projects.

Educate and we will thrive.