Posted By Chris Packham Nicky To answer your problem fully would require a very long contribution indeed. However, just a few thoughts that I hope will help. In construction the workplace is continuously changing You may start on site with demolition, then excavation, foundation and form work, steel framework erection, and so on. Thus you tend to have a continuously changing workplace with continuously changing workforce. In a normal manufacturing environment things tend to be much more stable. Once a manufacturing process has been set up, it tends to run relatively unaltered for a long time. The workforce will usually be relatively stable. Also it is less likely that the workforce will be external contractors but usually employees of the organisation. Thus risk assessment, risk management measures, training, etc. will be significantly different from what you will need on a construction site. As always, of course, there are exceptions to this, but I find the above tends to be what I encounter. It doesn't necessarily mean that life is any easier, merely different. Chris

Posted By AF To be honest, I am actually surprised at you wanting to get into manufacturing at all. Having worked in manufacturing within various industries (Engineering, Electronic, Plastics, Auto, Fabrication and Food) nearly all of my working life. The downturn which affected many companies across central scotland (especially in the last two decades)necessitated a change of industry. Ideally I wanted to move into the construction sector, however had no experience, therefore plumped into the service sector (gas heating installation & servicing), which for the last two years has heavily involved in CDM, and other issues which overlap into the construction industry. This I hope will give me at some point in the future, the experience to move into the construction industry. Going by my own experiences, the boom industries up here seem to be construction, oil & gas and medical. It is my opinion, that manufacturing in the UK just cannot compete with the setup costs in the eastern bloc countries, and this alone, will oversee a further decline in the next decade or two.........! I am happy to give you the benefit of my experiences in manufacturing, please feel free to email me.