CSCS Justify Why They Say Yes To CSCS Green Card Changes

I just came across a really nice news on green card changes, and strongly recommend you to look at it. It is credited to construction-manager.co.uk and based on explanations by CSCS Chief Executive Graham Wren, and here I, as the person who really enjoy the article, am telling you again about it!

You already got informed of the CSCS green card related changes and how to earn the new labourer card in the earlier post. Along the post, I also went through reasons for such changes though, they were not really dedicated to your clearest understanding. That’s why the following information is offered in an effort to facilitating your possibly best grip of the cause of the change, whether it has earned positive feedback or not.

Why has CSCS gone for green card change?

First and foremost, there needs to justify why CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) is conducting such a change. You know, CSCS plays the role as a provider of scheme for the construction sector that ascertains site worker’s qualifications and training. The green construction site operative card (CSO) had come out for entry level workers and candidly required applicants to overcome the health safety and environment test, and for their employers to sign their application and say they were taking care of labouring role only.

Still, the fact says that lots of site workers working in skilled occupations applied for the CSO card, given that it’s the route that they needed put in least efforts to accessing the construction site. As such, contractors had trouble using indispensable considered CSCS cards as a trusted method of determining whether site workers possessed the proper skills to work on site in a safe and effective manner. There needed some action to this situation…

Representatives all around the industry gathered and reached the relevant conclusion that a level 1 knowledge related award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment qualification would be developed to evaluate the labourer’s knowledge as connected with the most common safety risks on site today. Once this had attained consensus, the plan to implement the pilot of introducing a card for labourers would be advanced.

The pilot was undertaken from January to March of 2014. During this course, 334 out of 525 people who registered for the award passed. The remainders were still studying or/and waiting for the assessment at the end of the pilot.

As per one survey, the sample learners were asked to share how well the new award addressed their needs and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive:
• 97% shared that the process of pre-assessment was appropriate to evaluate their training needs.
• 88% of those surveyed thought that training delivery fitted their requirements.
• It was believed by over three quarters that the training content was of match.
• Over half commented that the training was of right length while about a third consider it was long-winded, which is under the review.
• 9 out of 10 informants considered the training materials suitable.
• 85% shared that the assessment was befitting.

Unveiling of the entry level qualification to get a CSCS card is considered the key action in CSCS’s strategy to make sure people obtain proper qualifications, knowledge and skills to take care of their on-site work. Prior to the introduction of the novel labourer qualification, it’s significant to test whether their proposals were suitable. And the pilot result has revealed that the industry says yes to that development and what to be provided fits well the learner’s requirements.

Supportive reaction to the changes

The specification associated with the award is accessible in the CSCS website, and a majority of the awarding service providers to construction have been registering to offer that new qualification. Accordingly, they would cater multiple methods related to training and assessment, inclusive of online testing as well as workbooks. This choice is specifically crucial to serve for various learning styles cum needs.

The number of colleges and training providers that have been authorized for qualification delivery has been ever growing, already up to 100 before July 1st 2014. That number is expected to considerably grow as time flies. Since July 1st, applicants for the new labourer card have been required to gain the new award or an equivalent recognized. Along with the green card change, CSCS also launched new provisional and apprentice cards to make sure these major groups wouldn’t suffer adverse impacts related to the changes.

Most of the industry’s top notch trade bodies as well as constructional unions have been rooting for the introduction to the new qualification for labourers.

As said by Alasdair Reisner – CECA chief executive, the misleading assumption of CSCS green cards had become ‘an infamous phenomenon’ for years, and it’s good news that CSCS had coordinated with the industry to find out the feasible solution. This approach should help ascertain everyone on site possesses proper basic qualifications and training for their occupation and carry the appropriate card for the right job role.

Sharing the same positive opinion with the CECA chief executive, NSCC president Kevin Louche told that holding the correct CSCS card allowed NSCC specialist contractors to prove that they’re eligible for handling their job on construction sites. The changes indeed highly motivated everyone to earn the proper card for their current occupation and smoothed their way to gain the skills as well as qualifications that they sure have to be recognized.