To: Furniture Dealers, Manufactures, Installation Companies, Contractor’s and Industry Leaders - we need to talk 📢

After many years working in commercial furniture installation, I’ve continuously encountered a troubling reality - Our current training systems, such as NVQ’s and CSCS cards don’t reflect the realities we face on site.  

💔 This is personal for me because every day, teams like mine witness avoidable health and safety risks; risks that would be significantly reduced if we had more relevant, role specific training.

While NVQ’s and CSCS cards are widely seen as the industry standard for site workers, they are largely focused on general construction and joinery, not commercial furniture installation. They do little to prepare installers for the specific tasks, expectations and challenges involved.

👎🏻Consequently, while these courses consume significant portions of training budgets, they fail to equip our crews with the necessary skills and knowledge to ensure safety and efficiency on the job. It’s a waste of  funds and isn’t covering the basic skills required, yet we companies are forced to enrol their onsite teams.

According to industry feedback, over 60% of installers feel undertrained, which directly impacts both safety and the successful delivery of projects. Poorly targeted training leads to more accidents on site, missed safety procedures and slower, less efficient installations. On top of that, there’s a lack of structured development for experienced installers, leaving teams without a clear path to upskill or progress in their careers. The industry has a huge problem with retention of skilled people.

👍🏻The solution is clear - We need a dedicated training programme tailored to commercial furniture installation, one that incorporates site specific challenges and safety needs.

By reallocating resources towards a specialised training standard, we can reduce accidents, increase safety and improve the overall quality of our projects. In a competitive market we need to demand better value and service from our investments.

At SITEWORKS, we fully support increasing standards, but training must be relevant. That’s why we’re calling for an end to the one size fits all approach to training and standing for a shift towards more meaningful, job specific learning for commercial furniture installation.

🫡 If we want quality, safety and pride in this trade, it starts with training that fits the role, not just the title. Real expertise comes from targeted, hands-on experience, not from ticking irrelevant boxes. We believe this is where real change begins, with training that reflects the job, the growing risks and the improved standards we should all expect.

We’re calling for the whole industry, Contractors, Architects, Furniture Dealers, Manufactures, Installation Companies, Contractor’s and Industry Leaders, to recognise the urgent need for reform and to come together to help shape training that’s safer, more relevant, and truly fit for commercial furniture installation.

Sign this petition to support your teams, improve industry standards and create safer, more efficient sites for everyone involved, training that’s made for furniture installers, by those who understand the job.

Thank-you.

Michael Norman-Kime

Founder - SITEWORKS Training Limited