New health and safety training and support package, Worksafe, launched by Barker Ross for construction, civil engineering, energy and housing

Recruitment company, Barker Ross launched Worksafe, a new health and safety package for the construction, civil engineering, energy and housing sectors at the East Midlands Property Show on Friday 9th November.

Worksafe is a health and safety support programme that tests workers basic competency levels within Health and safety. In addition to this it also covers candidate checks, drugs and alcohol procedures, health & safety and accident reporting. It includes details on employer’s liability, public and product liability, professional indemnity insurance, plus support on how to manage the claims process.

Worksafe can be tailored for individual employers to include induction and codes of conduct for employees, drug and alcohol testing, accident call- out procedures, operational training and certification for workers.

Antony Rowe, managing director, says:

“We’ve launched Worksafe as we have spent a lot of time really trying to understand the market and what it needs from recruitment companies.   This is our way of making sure new employees are as well prepared in health and safety as possible. We know our clients take health and safety extremely seriously and have their own programmes which Worksafe can complement and support. We don’t know of any other recruiter who can offer a comparable package.”

A key part of Worksafe is the health & safety competence testing platform, which has been developed in conjunction with Risk Safety Consultants, an accredited Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) practitioner that specialises in the construction industry.

Andy Stones, director at Risk Safety Consultants commented:

“The platform contains a 30 question test, which every temporary worker has to pass in order to be considered ready to work. The modules within the test include general responsibilities, accident prevention and reporting, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), safety signs and signals and some sector specific questions, covering all the main health & safety topics that Barker Ross would expect workers to be familiar with.”

As well as investing in the new Worksafe package, Barker Ross is also expanding its team to service demand from the industry in the Midlands region.  In its recently refurbished Nottingham office, Barker Ross has recruited three more full time consultants to focus solely on the trades and labour markets within Construction and Civil engineering.

The 2012 Property Show was held on Friday 9th November.

Scott Merrell & Sarah Richmond

Civil Engineering version