How to professionalize construction workers? UNAM and Holcim trace the path

In Mexico, the labor force of construction workersalso known as masonsis made up of 1.61 million people, who mostly acquire their knowledge empirically, according to Maribel Trujillo, an academic at the Faculty of Higher Studies (FES) Aragón of UNAM.

It is a reality that for decades, masonry has been a trade inherited from generation to generation among the members of Mexican families; however, the industry and the construction workers They have taken action to professionalize this segment and open up new opportunities.

Under this objective, an educational project was developed to construction workers in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture (FA) of the UNAM and the cement company Holcim México, through the Mexican School of Construction.

According to Armando Carranco Hernández, head of the Division of Continuing Education and teaching updating of the FA, from 2015 to 2022, 800 foremen have been trained in topics such as: reading plans, safety on site, budgeting, among other.

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Those who satisfactorily complete their classes receive the certificate from the University in front of the faculty authorities and relatives of students.

“It is a very emotional moment because many of them have not even finished primary school and suddenly they are receiving a certificate from UNAM; for them it is something very emotional for self-improvement”, said Carranco.

In addition, the architect said that those who take the courses acquire new knowledge that they can put into practice immediately in their working life. Several of them re-register every time the theme changes to continue with the update.

Sustainability Update

This 2022, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve comfort in new buildings in Latin America, Holcim and UNAM created the project “Strengthening capacities for energy efficiency in buildings in Latin America (CEELA)”, through which the the course for masonry professionals on Energy Efficiency and Adaptive Comfort (EECA).

Through the distance modality, 90 teachers and foremen from Mexico and 3,000 from Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru and other Latin American countries were trained.

Among the topics that were addressed, the following stand out:

• Integrated Design.
• Embedded Power.
• Reduction of toxic materials.
• Bioclimatic outdoor design.
• Conscious water management. a
• Self-generation of renewable energy.

Alejandra Quintero, in charge of the project at Holcim, mentioned that the sustainable approach demanded by the market does not necessarily always reach the construction workersTherefore, it is essential to disseminate information that helps them to know the materials and their application.

“Graduates are not preparing for the future, but for the present, because one of the current challenges in the industry is sustainability and they must be at the forefront,” he concluded.