Upskilling in Welding and Inspection to Improve Safety
TWI and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF), a leading UK-based charity which supports activities relating to the safety of life and property across the globe, have launched an international vocational training initiative to upskill people in south and east Asia countries with specific focus on improving safety standards in the work environment.
TWI and LRF have a longstanding and very successful relationship. The South East Asia Skills Enhancement Programme (SEASEP) is a further exciting opportunity to deliver a programme with international impact, tackle in-country skills shortages and reduce occupational fatalities by bringing engineering-related skills and education to disadvantaged and under-represented groups in various parts of the world.
Training is suitable for individuals seeking to gain employment through upskilling or furthering their career in current employment. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
SEASEP aims to make a significant contribution to the reduction of high rates of accidental workplace fatalities in South East Asian countries by:
- Developing a sustainable programme that builds capability and capacity to safely operate and maintain critical infrastructure, and
- Enhancing the skills of the workforce by providing access to quality, engineering-related training and education
Worldwide it is estimated that annually there are 340 million workplace accidents. Asian countries’ construction industries account for a disproportionately high number of both non-fatal and fatal incidents.
The rapid expansion of SE Asian economies and populations is fuelling massive infrastructure spending across SE Asia and consequently construction work is booming. Furthermore, this convulsive increase will drive the region’s recovery from the Covid-19 downturn. Unchecked, a major increase in workplace accidents will result, dramatically worsening an already grave situation.
Long-held and endemic high rates of construction industry fatalities, combined with what will almost certainly result from the increase in construction projects across the SE Asia region sets both the context and need for the SEASEP programme.