The CSCS Card, now in its second decade and improving all the time (a recent review of the card system has made the Scheme even more accurate and raised industry awareness of the importance of having the right card), has introduced a provable health and safety qualification to all London construction workers. A quick scan of current construction vacancies in London reveals the ongoing effect of the Card: wherever you see a vacancy for work on London construction sites now, you’ll see the phrase “with CSCS card” attached. “Labourer required with CSCS Card”. “Site worker required with CSCS Card”.

The Scheme has forced London construction workers to get qualified in order to get work – and that, of course, means only entering a site when you’ve got a current health and safety qualification.

Has the CSCS Card Improved the Quality of Work on London Construction Sites?

As well as raising the city wide site safety level, the Construction Skills Certification Scheme has been responsible for a tangible improvement in overall work quality. Since the improvements to the Scheme were launched last year (a Smart Chip in every CSCS Card has made it possible for site supervisors to check that employees are who they say they are), it has been very difficult for workers to get jobs on London construction sites without having the right levels of qualification. In the same way that the Card proves a passing grade in a Health, Safety & Environment Test, so it also proves (in most cases) possession of a recognised qualification in trade specific skills.

 What about London Construction Site Workers with No Qualifications?

There are of course London construction workers who have yet to achieve a qualification in their trade. The CSCS Card is designed to reflect this – there’s a red Trainee card that clearly shows that its holder has yet to complete a relevant NVQ. The whole Card system is intended to show levels of competence (and in most cases their associated qualifications) with colour coding: so any site worker that holds a red Card is immediately defined as either unqualified or new to the trade. Possession of the red Card, though, requires that the holder has successfully completed a CSCS Health and Safety Test: which means everyone on site is measurably safer.

Does the Improvement in London Construction Site Safety Extend to Visitors?

The CSCS Card initiative is total – covering every person whose work brings them into contact with London construction sites. Even visitors are required to sit and pass a CSCS Health and Safety Test before they are allowed out onto the site. The successfully passing visitor, who must sit the Basic Health and Safety Test, will be awarded a Yellow “regular visitor” Card, which proves that he or she has completed the Test satisfactorily.

The CSCS Test and Card do not supplant site specific health and safety inductions. The initiative works in tandem with London building sites’ own health and safety policies, which have been designed to cover the actual workings of each site rather than overall health and safety practices.