Heathrow partnership aims to improve skills

Airport operator BAA is opening a new centre dedicated to training construction workers who are needed for future projects at Heathrow.

BAA and five major framework contractors have formed a partnership with East Berkshire College to establish the Heathrow Construction Training Centre. By 2001 every construction worker at the airport will be expected to have attained competency at NVQ level 2, or its equivalent.

The training facility at the college's refurbished campus in Feltham, Middlesex will be opened by BAA chief executive, Sir John Egan, on 5 November.

The Construction Industry Training Board has provided extensive support in training the first group of course instructors as a first step in achieving these targets. The contractors: AMEC Civil Engineering, AMEC M&E Services, Crown House Engineering, Laing Civil Engineering and O'Rourke Civil Engineering are part of Airport Construction Training Alliance (ACTA). Other construction partners have also joined the alliance.

The Centre's full-time courses, lasting up to 24 weeks, will cater for local school leavers and the unemployed. In addition, the Centre will provide accreditation for experienced construction workers who will be assessed on site.

Gren Tipper, senior project manager at BAA, said: "By developing greater expertise within our suppliers' workforce, we will be able to reduce construction costs and delivery times, as well as improving safety standards and the predictability of construction output."