The institution of civil engineers (ICE) has commissioned a survey to find out what civil engineers are doing to identify and achieve best practice beyond simple google searches, and what more ICE can do to help. Tim Chapman, chairman of ICE's best-practice panel and Leon Heward-Mills, ICE publisher, report on the initial findings.
In october 2008 the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) conducted a survey into its members' perceptions and aspirations of best practice. For the purposes of the survey, best practice was defined as, ‘a sizeable amount of tested information, rather than a snippet of advice or the one-paragraph result of a Google search’.
Responses were received from 727 members. In terms of membership grade, geographical distribution and subject specialism, the sample was an accurate representation of the wider ICE membership. The following is a summary of the initial findings.
Consulting best practice
The research results were overall very positive, with more than 80% of civil engineers claiming to seek fresh best-practice information as part of their work and nearly half of them doing this on a weekly to monthly basis.
Those working in the energy field are most likely to consult best-practice resources frequently, whereas water experts do it least often – the most common excuse being lack of time.
Information resources
Almost 70% of civil engineers say their employers help by providing access to a wide range of best-practice resources and virtually none say they are discouraged from changing their routine way of working.
Members working in geotechnics and energy appear to have the widest access to best-practice resources. However, waste-management specialists feel their organisations do not see this as a priority.
The sources of best-practice information most frequently used by civil engineers are colleagues and websites, closely followed by ICE journals. Primary reasons for accessing best-practice information are given as
looking for general guidance or reassurance
helping to make a decision
updating professional knowledge.
The majority of civil engineers (85%) confirm that obtaining new best-practice information has significantly improved their working practices.
Quality of information
Over two-thirds (70%) of respondents believe good best-practice information is available in most fields if you know where to look. Information-systems specialists are the most positive about availability of information.
Civil engineers cite the two most common ways of evaluating best-practice information as using their own judgement and looking at the quality of the organisation providing the information. Perhaps surprisingly, less than 3% consider the status of information authors as a priority.
However, the youngest and oldest respondents are least confident in using their own judgement. Those over 65 are the only group likely to be influenced by an author's status and are also most influenced by the quality of the organisation providing the data.
Use and requirements of ICE
ICE's range of best-practice information is generally viewed positively, but there is clearly room for improvement. Civil engineers working in health and safety rated ICE resources best, followed by waste-management experts. The biggest critics were those working in energy.
In particular there is a clear preference for using ICE journals over those from other publishers. However, books, web resources and conferences from outside ICE are preferred.
Industry guides appear to be the most popular form of best-practice resource, particularly those from Ciria – cited by a fifth of respondents as a good or excellent driver of best practice.
Finally, despite the profession's desire for best-practice information, over 10% of civil engineers say they do not undertake any continuing-professional-development activities. The largest group, 42%, carry out 1–25 hours of continuing professional development each year. Less than half (48%) achieve the officially mandated ICE target of five days of training per year, with 10% saying they carry out no continuing professional development at all.
The ICE best-practice panel is encouraging the newly formed expert panels to produce best-practice materials, such as the new ICE manuals series. The panel is currently analysing the research findings with a view to improving the profession's access to and use of high-quality best-practice information. Details will be published in future issues of Civil Engineering.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, Leon Heward-Mills, TEL +44 20 7665 2450, EMAIL leon.heward-mills@ice.org.uk
