Carillion has been in talks with BAA officials this week to build a training facility on the T5 site that will enable workers to acquire skills and gain CSCS accreditation.
A second training centre will be an induction base for workers to register before they begin work on the project.
BAA also plans to provide a facility for local children and teenagers in the 13-19 age bracket, to train and make the transition from education to work in the construction industry.
The training centres are part of a local labour strategy for Heathrow and Terminal 5 that has been drawn up by Joe Hardman, BAA’s economic development manager.
Hardman hailed the strategy as blueprint for the industry. He said: “The idea is to make T5 a brand, so it will be remembered for years to come – and so that the good intentions of the strategy can change the construction industry permanently for the better.”
Hardman says the scheme will generate more than 16,000 person-years of employment in its lifetime, with a workforce that peaks in 2005 at about 5000.
Within the strategy, BAA has committed itself to investing £1.5m over 10 years to help local people win jobs at T5 and the rest of Heathrow.
The company has also committed itself to running the creation of jobs for young people each year in the form of 10 modern apprenticeship schemes.
Under the strategy, BAA has also pledged to develop a construction workers’ public transport strategy that seeks to encourage the use of public transport for workers.
The company has agreed to review information on where workers live, to be gathered from the first few months of construction. It will then use the information to create initiatives such as minibus-sharing, inter-site minibuses and car-sharing.
