The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) is helping improve industrial relations on sites amid increased demand for training on the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI).
The ECITB has facilitated cohorts from Teesside, Hampshire, Cumbria and Scotland to attend a NAECI Industrial Relations course delivered by ACTTnow Training.
So far, 103 workers have benefited from the training due to the ECITB pro-actively engaging and working in collaboration with clients and contractors.
The latest 43 to sit the training attended one of three courses in March and April at INEOS Grangemouth near Falkirk in Scotland.
The ECITB helped organise, facilitate and provide the funding for the course after a request by the INEOS Grangemouth Project Joint Council (PJC) to re-engage clients, contractors and union representatives with a thorough understanding of the NAECI ‘Blue Book’ on the refinery site.
The courses were attended by a mix of shop stewards, supervisors and managers from the client INEOS and contractors Altrad Babcock, Altrad Services, Bilfinger UK and BGEN, as well as other in-scope contractors which work on site.
Ricky Quinn, who is Chair of the PJC meetings and industrial relations adviser for the INEOS Grangemouth site, says they could have run two more courses, such was the demand.
He said: “People were really engaged in the course, especially in the break-out sessions. The way it was run helped spark a lot of good discussions and people were really interested in how this can help them in their work.
“The way it was ran made it relatable with their experiences at Grangemouth, which is what made it interesting. The scenarios that were put up were real-life examples, with people having experienced similar situations.
“You are never going to get a course that teaches you everything about the NAECI. The important thing was people came out of the course knowing when and where they had to look in the Blue Book if a situation does arise, and the part the local joint council and local agreements play.”
Helping projects run smoothly
The National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) sets comprehensive terms and conditions of employment for hourly-paid engineering construction workers on major and basic engineering construction projects, repair and maintenance sites and events or outages throughout the UK.
The course, which is funded through the ECITB Industrial Training Levy, is designed to strengthen understanding and practical use of the NAECI ‘Blue Book’.
The two-day interactive course ensures site managers, supervisors, shop stewards and employee representatives working on sites using the agreement can make an effective contribution to the success of the projects they are working on.
The intention is to help learners understand the provisions of the NAECI and to encourage them to demonstrate positive leadership qualities when applying these.
“The sessions received very positive feedback, so we were glad we were able to support these valued courses.
“It’s great to see the collaboration of client and contractors striving to achieve good industrial relations to ensure projects run smoothly.”
Paul Hynd
ECITB Relationship Manager who attends the joint council meetings
Professional development
The NAECI course is part of a suite of ECITB supervisory courses, such as the Giving Supervisors the Edge training programme, which recently added a fourth module covering effective on-site safety.
Find out more about the ECITB NAECI and supervisor courses
