An Australian-first Culture Standard will be piloted at NSW construction sites to improve facilities, working conditions and boost the number of women in construction.
New ways of working will be tested at the new Wentworth Point High School and Mulgoa Road upgrade stage 1 construction sites to address cultural issues that can lead to poor mental health, high rates of family breakdown and a lack of diversity in the industry.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said piloting the Culture Standard is an additional measure to the $20.2 million funding allocation in this years\u2019 budget, to attract more women into the construction industry.
\u201cWith a record-breaking $112.7 billion infrastructure pipeline, it\u2019s critical that we are doing everything we can to make our worksites work for everyone,\u201d Mr Kean said.
“The NSW Government is committed to trialing new ways of doing things to boost productivity and secure brighter futures for the 369,500 construction workers across NSW.\u201d
Minister for Infrastructure Rob Stokes said the pilot was focused on improving wellbeing and work-life balance, boosting construction efficiency and productivity all without impacting project timeframes.
\u201cConstruction sites will be happier, healthier and more productive places to work when there is better work-life balance and diversity, and more access to wellbeing and mental health support,\u201d Mr Stokes said.
\u201cThe industry has one of the worst gender pay gaps in the country at around 30 per cent so we\u2019re going to trial the publication of that data so we can work towards women being fairly paid for their equal contribution.\u201d
Minister for Metropolitan Roads Natalie Ward said this is the first of many initiatives aimed at boosting the number of women in construction to 15 per cent by 2030.
\u201cThe sad reality is that women on construction sites can be subject to sexist slurs, offensive graffiti and second-rate amenities that don\u2019t accommodate their needs, including a lack of sanitary bins or private spaces,\u201d Mrs Ward said.
\u201cThe Culture Standard sets out a basic roadmap to making sites more inclusive because when sites work better for women, they work better for everyone.
\u201cWe also know another key barrier is construction work is typically a six day, 50 plus hour a week job, which is why this program will seek to improve flexible working conditions for women who are juggling family commitments.\u201d
The program is led by the Construction Industry Culture Taskforce – a collaboration between the NSW and Victorian governments, the Australian Constructors Association and industry leaders. The pilots will include measures such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Australian-first Culture Standard will be piloted at NSW construction sites to improve facilities, working conditions and boost the number of women in construction. New ways of working will be tested at the new Wentworth Point High School and Mulgoa Road upgrade stage 1 construction sites to address cultural issues that can lead to poor mental … Continue reading “New trial to encourage more women to enter construction”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18123,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18122\/revisions\/18123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Outcomes of the pilot will bolster research and the contemporary evidence base of how to best generate cultural change on site and across the construction sector.
The NSW Government involvement in the program is being led by Infrastructure NSW and will support its ongoing collaboration with industry, construction firms, sub-contractors, and trade unions to make the construction sector a more inclusive workplace for everyone.
You can read the draft Culture Standard and the proposed elements here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"