So what’s all the fuss about The Consulting Association’s building workers blacklist?

What’s wrong with a register of workers that accurately lists their skills – and their failings? We all know of supposedly ‘skilled’ workers that can’t hold a screwdriver, much less a conversation in English.

You can’t say that, I hear you say. Yes I can. If a driverless forklift truck is heading towards my back at a rate of knots, I want someone to shout me a warning in a language I can understand. Similarly, if a ‘tradesman’ is considered incompetent, why should I employ him, or want him stood next to me when I’m tinkering in a switchroom?

In these days of red tape, political correctness, and more rules and regulations than you can shake a hammer at, don’t we want to know who is safe to work alongside and who isn’t? Isn’t it our right to know?

Surely a register of some sort is exactly what is needed? That is apparent, judging by the calibre of the sizeable companies that made use of the list – NG Bailey, Haden Young, Balfour Kilpatrick, and so on.

How exactly does such a list set out to “ruin construction workers’ lives”? Surely, such a list, if properly compiled, will actually protect construction workers’ lives?

Andrew Ferguson, Solent Power Systems, Wiltshire