A consistent approach to managing error

With 699 certificates issued to staff, Bowmer & Kirkland has become the company to roll out GIRI’s error-reduction training course most widely to date.

GIRI trainers delivered a total of 54 courses to delegates from Bowmer & Kirkland between September 2021 and May 2023. These include 18 each of part one and two of the supervisory and management skills courses (SM-01 and SM-02) and nine each of parts one and two of the training across interfaces courses (IN-01 and IN-02).

Bowmer & Kirkland rolled out the training as part of its Zero Defects at Handover initiative. “Mindset and culture is extremely difficult to adjust, especially in industries where there is a heavy reliance on such a wide and diverse supply-chain,” says Craig Head, group quality assurance manager. “By building a foundation of knowledge internally within our own project teams we hope we can share some of our learning from the GIRI training and provide a deeper understanding of WHY getting it right first time is important.”

He adds: “GIRI allows us to provide a consistent approach to effectively managing issues and errors within the construction sector. It also directs us to investigate the root causes of errors to allow us to put controls and measures in place to avoid recurrence of these on future projects. Following the training we have seen a greater focus from our project teams linked to quality and the documenting of evidence we require to support the Building Safety Act and ‘Golden Thread of information’ across our projects.”

Many participants on the training said it would impact the way they work in future, including implementing GIRI techniques such as ‘pressing pause to avoid error’ and ‘build it in your brain’. Other changes delegates said they would make include ensuring that they both ask questions when required and create the environment in which everyone is comfortable to ask questions.

GIRI delivered nine two-part interfaces courses as part of the rollout. This takes a proactive approach to enhancing participants’ ability to identify various forms of interfaces on their projects. It also provides practical skills and techniques to improve the management of interfaces to prevent issues arising and assist with the successful delivery of projects. Participants who attend the course said that, going forward, they would focus on the early identification and effective management of interfaces and employ “more effective communication, forward thinking and forward planning around interfaces”.

“We encourage an open and honest culture, and where there are so many interfaces between trades this can be challenging,” says Craig. “GIRI training has provided the confidence in our site teams to promote the use of NCRs in a positive way – we refer to the acronym as Not a Crime to Report. We would much rather know about an issue and be able to correct it, than allow it to be covered over and hidden.”

Overall, feedback from attendees was very positive. “The training was extremely helpful and relevant to any job in the industry,” said one. “It helps manage and reduce errors on a daily basis, thus saving money,” said another.

When asked, on a scale of one to 10, how likely they would be to recommend the course to a colleague, the average score participants gave was 8.9 out of 10.

Find out more about GIRI’s training courses.