The last few years have been a troubling time for all types of industry with so many cutbacks and redundancies. Construction was one of the first trades to be hit at the start of the recession, and as many of us know all too well, the culture of working as a self-employed contractor can mean an unpredictable pattern of work and income, particularly in troubled times.
Even though asbestos was a building material of the last century and awareness has been raised of its danger to workers, it still haunts us every day. There are still many schools, office buildings, homes and hospitals that have asbestos within the building and when it becomes damaged it can be a hazard to anyone in the vicinity.
CSCS's primary objective is to provide evidence that individuals working on construction sites have the required training and qualifications for the type of work they carry out.
If you are hoping to work on any construction site operating heavy machinery such as diggers, dumpers, loaders and rollers, then you will be required to show that you are in possession of a CPCS card. You will not be able to work with this machinery unless you can show you have attended CPCS training and qualified, if you are allowed to work without one then this is a construction site you do not want to work on.
In our last post we discussed why toolbox talks are beneficial to a construction site team. In this article, we explore what makes a talk effective and engaging.
As one of the constructions industry’s most accepted health and safety qualifications the NEBOSH Construction Certificate is primarily aimed at a target audience of managers, supervisors and CDM co-ordinators, or anyone who is has a responsibility to safety for construction activities that are undertake under their direction. The course is made up of several individual units, outlined in the syllabus below. This should give any delegate wishing to undertake the training an indication of what is involved.
The academic life is not for everyone. Whilst some learn best in a classroom with books and computers, others learn best through trial and error, practice and perfection. Apprenticeships and on-the-job training have long been recognised as a great way to learn construction skills. But whilst being able to do a job is great you still need to be able to show that you can do the job and obtaining a qualification is the most sure-fire way of doing so.
Paying for an SMSTS course is an expensive outlay. Whether you are covering the cost yourself or getting sponsorship, you will understandably want to get the most out of your SMSTS training.
That is why people often contact us asking for an SMSTS mock test or some example SMSTS test questions to help them study, although official CITB test revision questions do not exist, there are several online test questions available. Whilst we can't guarantee their reliability, it may be worth having a look and deciding for yourself. An example can be found at https://smstsmocktest.co.uk/.
We often receive requests from delegates wanting to book an SMSTS online course, however such a course does not exist. You can't do an SMSTS course online because all CITB Site Safety Plus courses are classroom based, delivered face-to-face by CITB accredited training providers.
We discuss the benefits of classroom based courses compared to online courses, something that is especially important when dealing with a such an intensive course requiring at least 37.5 - 42 contact hours (depending on method of delivery) that's aimed at construction site managers.
Gone are the days of the wooden spoon cement mixing method (for most of us anyway) as now we're in the age of the robot. We're already measuring with laser beams for a start. Technology is becoming so advanced that construction work will soon be so easy that we'll wonder how we ever coped before.
Do you feel like you need any of these beauties on your site?
This is the first in a series of three articles which covers toolbox talks.