ISSUE 2 - 2015 Winter Edition
INSIDE Arrow International (Wigan Tower)
20
SARNZ leads industry to greater heights
Certified Builders Annual Conference & Expo 55 Clean Chem
51
Clyde Quay Wharf Redevelopment Supreme Winner
52
Directory
58
Fire Protection
22
Genesis Energy
60
Height, Health & Safety 39 New Zealand Safety Council
26
NZDAA
28
NZ Master Joiners Association
25
Rickie Shore Building
34
Safety Nets NZ
42
SARNZ
2
Site Safe
43
Southern Workplace Safety / Pace 50 Training & Recruitment
37
Whelan Construction
54
PUBLISHED BY
Scaffolding, once considered the orphan child of the construction industry, is coming into its own with modern legislative requirements for health and safety, calling for greater skill levels, increased training and a more responsible approach to its application in construction.
The voice of the sector is SARNZ – Scaffolding Access and Rigging New Zealand – scaffolders and riggers are coming into the sunlight more clearly, with an emphasis on the way they operate and legislation requiring top qualifications for operators working above five metres. The outcome of the health and safety legislation – due to be revised later this year – is that scaffolding is becoming a bona fide skills-based, site-safe operation, which needs highly qualified personnel onsite. One of the impediments to scaffolding advancing is a lack of fully qualified scaffolders. Not enough have been trained in New Zealand and there are too few being recruited from overseas. SARNZ president Nick Pfahlert, of Christchurch firm
Upright Scaffolding, says the organisation is acutely aware of the skill shortage, which he points out is not just a factor in the scaffolding and rigging sector, but is prevalent in many trades. In addressing the shortage of skilled staff, he believes it is imperative to exhaust “every option with the local population and then investigate opportunities abroad.” “We have made it easier for people to come into the industry and train them up to become qualified scaffolders and riggers. We need to make sure our training organisations are robust and to maintain the quality of training in the industry.” Nick says access to immigration would allow scaffolders and riggers to be brought into New Zealand from
overseas, while continuing to train existing workers. “It needs to be done in order to make sure we have a sustainable work force.” Current training Nick says SARNZ has always had an excellent relationship with industry training organisations, first with Opportunity Training and latterly with Skills New Zealand. SARNZ also has a close link with regional training providers such as Tai Poutini Polytechnic. One of the country’s top training representatives is on the SARNZ committee, meaning it has close contact with training processes. There are other training organisations, and SARNZ keeps an eye on their schedules to ensure they are able to give adequate scaffolding and rigging training. continued inside
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