The people of North West Wales can rest assured that construction work in Gwynedd is in good shape – as nearly 170 companies across the county recently participated in one of the first training schemes in England and Wales to measure construction companies’ Health and Safety standards.

Using the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS) as a vehicle to measure compliance, contractors, subcontractors and potential contractors employed by Gwynedd Council companies were invited to attend nine free training sessions at Caernarfon, Bangor, Porthmadog and Dolgellau to demonstrate their understanding of health and safety matters and their competence to undertake work safely.

Dyfed Williams, Cyngor Gwynedd Health and Safety Officer said: "Preventing accidents, health related problems to workers and potential major costs associated with these issues is a key element of our construction management in Gwynedd.  Health and Safety Executive research shows that a high percentage of accidents and deaths within the industry occur with projects carried out by the smaller companies. 

At these sessions in Gwynedd, we stressed to local companies across the county, the importance of ensuring high standards of health and safety issues on construction sites.  By doing so, they not only protect themselves from any misfortunes, but also protect their employees."

Working with the Local Supplier Development Project*, ConstructionSkills and Working Well Together, participators were given the opportunity to gain a better knowledge and understanding of health and safety issues, carried out by a team of experts. 

Siôn Hughes from the Local Supplier Development Programme explains how they were approached by Gwynedd Council to assist with initiating the training and to further develop the potential to small and medium sized construction companies in the area: "Our role in the project was to organise the events therefore offering local companies the opportunity to tap into new markets and build their contact base for future work."

Tim Shambrook from Working Well Together who part funded the project said: "This project demonstrated how well local, government and private agencies worked together to enhance the construction industry.  It was great to see the industry helping itself, and giving these companies the competency to go out to the workplace better equipped.  Gwynedd Council offered this training package, not only to its sub-contractors, but also to the wider community, therefore giving everyone the opportunity to benefit from these training sessions.  The events were well attended and showed how joint working can improve things for local businesses."

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Construction, Design and Management Regulations (CDM) 2007 place a duty on a client to ensure the competency of any contractors that it employs.  As from April 2008, Gwynedd Council has required contractors employed by them to be CHAS registered.

Dafydd Ellis from ConstructionSkills said: "Working with all these different agencies has been a tremendous boost to the construction industry in North West Wales.  Each partner has played its part, and I wish to commend Cyngor Gwynedd for taking the initiative and working with local companies to raise the standards of health and safety issues on construction sites in Gwynedd.  This training scheme means that all businesses in Gwynedd have been given the same opportunity to develop their skills, therefore offering them a level playing field to bid for work in the future."

D L Contractors, Abererch, Pwllheli, Gwynedd attended one of the sessions.  Owner Dafydd Lloyd feels it pays dividends to attend different courses so that small companies can keep up with changes in regulations.  Established in 1999, D L Contractors employ 4 people, and specialise in building and carpentry work.  The working area includes Pen Llŷn, across to the Bangor and Caernarfon area down to the Harlech area.