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