Clearview National March 2016 - Issue 172 | Page 20

INDUSTRYNEWS Number One for Driving Safety Construction workers are the safest drivers on the UK roads, according to data released by insurance giant Aviva. »»THE COMPANY’S NEW WORKLOADS FALL FOR SMALL BUILDERS, WARNS FMB »»WORKLOADS FOR small builders across the country took a downward turn towards the end of last year, the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) latest State of Trade Survey has revealed, amid worries over wider economic uncertainty. Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “The building industry remains confident of continued growth but the slowdown we saw in the last quarter is a cause for concern. Undoubtedly, the adverse weather experienced in large parts of the country has played its part, by causing projects to overrun and costs to spiral. However, the fact that both current and expected construction workloads are down in every region is worrying given some of the gloomy predictions being made about the wider economy.” Berry continued: “Most concerning is that the last three months of 2015 represent the first quarter in nearly three years in which private sector SME housebuilding showed a negative balance. Even if this is a temporary blip, it comes at a time when merely managing to tread water would be inadequate in tackling the housing crisis. “We need firms of all sizes firing on all cylinders if we’re going to address the chronic under-supply of housing but, unfortunately, a complex set of problems continue to constrain smaller developers. A concerted effort to tackle ongoing issues around access to finance, availability of suitable small sites and shortages of skilled labour is vital. The survey findings underline the latter point, showing 52% of our members reporting difficulty in finding carpenters and joiners, and 50% continue to have trouble hiring quality bricklayers.” Berry concluded: “We still expect to see growth in our sector continue throughout 2016 and we are optimistic that businesses can bounce back from what appears to have been a disappointing end to the year. However, the coming 12 months still hold in store considerable headwinds, not least the fears over the wider economy slowing down. If 2016 starts in anything less than a positive fashion, we could see growing fears that the hard-earned gains made by the construction industry over the past two or three years are indeed under threat.” Source: FMB 20 » M AR 2016 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M ‘Drive’ app rated professions by their driving safety scores. The app uses Smartphone technology to record a motorist’s driving style over 200 miles and provides them with an individual rating out of ten based on how safely they drive. Aviva looked at the occupations of more than 20,000 drivers who registered with the app, to find out which professions score the highest. The ten high scoring occupations were construction worker at number one, followed by staff nurse, operations manager, social worker, soldier, local government officer, support worker, IT manager, telecommunications engineer and assistant teacher. The percentage of builders who scored between 7.1 and ten using the app was 68.5%. Assistant teachers at number ten got 54.5%. Adam Beckett, propositions director for Aviva said: “There are lots of factors which affect how safely a person drives and we’re not saying everyone in a certain profession drives in a particular way, but it’s interesting to see that some occupations score particularly well. “People can be reassured that the app measurement is specific to the driver in question, so the safer drivers will get a higher rating – whatever their occupation.” Source: Constructionline.com