THE AVERAGE construction worker received only three days of training last year 鈥� although the best firms provided their staff with 20.
The figures were gathered as part of the launch of a new set of key performance indicators. Alan Crane, chairman of the Movement for Innovation, said the figures would provide a benchmark for the training KPI in future years. Crane said it was "up to the industry to catch up" with the firms offering 20 days training.

However, another recent report told a different story. Produced by the Construction Industry Training Board, it claimed that employees received, on average, eight days of training in the year 1999/2000. The report, People Skills Scoreboard, was based on a survey of 93 medium-sized construction firms.

The Rethinking Construction KPI data also revealed that employees worked an average of 44 hours a week, and that only one in three construction workers was more than 80% satisfied with his or her job.

In a separate development, the Movement for Innovation strand of the Rethinking Construction initiative reported the results from the third set of its Egan demonstration projects.

The best companies provide 20 days鈥� training a year 鈥� it is up to the industry to catch up

Alan Crane, chairman, Movement for Innovation

The projects again outperformed the industry average. Data collected from 99 schemes revealed that four in five clients reported improved satisfaction levels last year, and 85% of clients gave the projects full marks for quality.

The movement's projects had almost 33% less defects than standard projects, significantly ahead of the targets set in Sir John Egan's original Rethinking Construction report.