Mark Priestman has more than 20 years’ experience in the natural stone sector. He plays an active role in the development and delivery of training in this specialist environment. Along with his father, David Priestman, he runs a training consultancy whose mantra is: Qualify the Workforce!
The impact of skills cards is massive in our industry. And for us, the king of skills cards is the CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) Smart Card. Such is its importance I wanted to keep you abreast of news from a briefing I recently attended at CITB:
1) Smart enough to read?
Need to check out your employee or sub-contractor's CSCS smart card? The good folk at CSCS have expanded your options for doing this online:
i) Go to their homepage (www.cscs.uk.com), scroll down a bit and click on ‘Check a card’, then follow the wizard
ii) Download the software on to your PC from their website
iii) Opt for the App – although it is not currently available for Apple devices.
2) What colour is yours?
It strikes me that the natural progression of comparing football cards in the school playground has culminated in top-trumping each other on construction sites with white, green, red, blue, gold and black CSCS cards.
Our fun could soon be over, though, as CSCS is putting out to consultation the concept of removing the colours on their cards. Shock!
It seems they want to focus employers and principle contractors instead on ensuring the holder is qualified for the function they are undertaking. Seems appropriate to be fair, but all the same… Shock!
3) Hoping to turn green?
As I have said in previous columns, the CSCS card for labourers can’t be renewed or applied for afresh without the applicant having:
i) A CSCS touchscreen test that has been passed within two years of the application PLUS
ii) A pass in the new level 1 safety qualification or a CSCS recognised equivalent.
Some have found the latter difficult to source via the CSCS website (including me, and we are a provider!), so the nice people at CSCS showed me how to do it. Here goes:
a) Go to www.cscs.uk.com/ card-finder
b) Click on ‘find the correct card for you’
c) Under ‘occupation’ type in ‘labourer’
d) Hey presto! Magically a list of providers pops-up.
I should mention that the CSCS card is not proof of competency. CSCS is keen to badge it as a skills card. In practice, competency is assessed elsewhere and the card records recognised achievements.
Under the draft revision for the Construction Design & Management Regulations, which looks like applying to pretty much all construction projects, stakeholders are encouraged to take responsibility for making sure that relevant mentoring, QCF vocational qualifications and training are in place for all involved in site operations.