The client
A multi-site construction contractor employing a growing workforce across several live projects.
The business needed to train 48 operatives and six supervisors in CITB Health and Safety Awareness, Manual Handling and Working at Height over a six-week period.
The challenge
The client had a regular flow of new employees and subcontractors joining its sites. Although workers were completing the required training and holding the appropriate certificates, supervisors continued to notice preventable safety issues.
These included poor manual handling techniques, inconsistent harness inspections and an assumption among some workers that completing a course automatically meant they were working safely.
The client needed more than a training provider that could issue certificates. It needed practical training that would translate into safer behaviour on site, while maintaining consistent standards across multiple teams and locations.
Our approach
We began by mapping the training around the risks, equipment and everyday tasks encountered on the client’s sites. Rather than relying on generic examples, each session focused on situations that delegates were likely to face during a normal working day.
The programme combined places on open courses with dedicated on-site delivery, allowing employees to attend without creating unnecessary disruption.
To ensure every team received the same standard of training, we established clear and consistent learning outcomes across every session. Practical exercises, real-world scenarios and straightforward demonstrations helped delegates understand what good practice looked like and how it should be applied on site.
Supervisors were also given clear points that they could continue reinforcing after the training had been completed.
The results
Within eight weeks of the programme being delivered:
- Near-miss reports relating to manual handling and working at height fell by 27%.
Correctly completed harness pre-use checks increased from 62% to 91%. - New-starter onboarding time was reduced by approximately 35 minutes per person.
- Supervisors reported greater confidence that employees understood how to apply their training in real working environments.
What the client said
“Best course we’ve had, it wasn’t death by PowerPoint. The lads actually took it back to site.”
Why it worked
The programme moved beyond simply satisfying a training requirement. By connecting each subject to the client’s own sites, tasks and risks, delegates could immediately see how the information applied to their work.
The result was practical, consistent training designed to be used on site from the very next working day.
