Jobs that require CSCS cards

[legrandefromage]

Yes!

I was supposed to have one provided by the telecoms company I was working for last year. Turned out I was working illegally for 6 months...

 

[rosstheboss]

If you plan on working on any building sites then yes

 

[twain]

some airport jobs are asking for them, may as well if its just a mulitple choice test for idiots.

 

[NeilM]

I have to have a Frequent Visitor card for my job as an area sale manager, as I am often found in large holes in the ground (I work in civil engineering).

I have just renewed my card and they have made the whole process more complicated / expensive, as you take the test with one organisation that charge you £17.50 and then you have to cough up another £30.00 to CSCS for the card.

In the last five years I have NEVER been asked for my card, not once, even though I have been working with major contractors on huge sites and frequently don PPE to go get muddy.

The test is pretty basic, but unless you know about working in confined spaces, or at height, or about handling heavy loads, fire extinguishers and the like, it is worth getting the revision guide.

As an aside the people at the Bristol test centre were unbelievably rude. I know they are dealing with site workers all day so are likely to get a little hackneyed, but that is no excuse to bark at me (and everyone else), like I am a new recruit on my first day in the Army.

Mind, a measure of your typical applicant is that I entered the test area, which was almost fully occupied, logged in to my computer, did the test, did the customer survey, left the test area and received my pass certificate, during which time not a single other person left the test area. :shock:

 

[russ77]

Unfortunately it is a scheme that a lot of main contractors have bought in to so if you want to work on big projects you will need it. A lot of smaller sites also insist on it now as it's easier and cheaper than doing the basic checks on workers. It was part of the induction requirement for every construction site I visited for the last four or five years.

I was only allowed a visitor's card (yellow) wen the first ones came out because I had no NVQ and wasn't studying towards one. I do have a relevant masters and fifteen years of experience though. Doesn't count. Neither does an apprenticeship completed in the seventies and forty years.

In summary it is a scam that proves nothing but it can't hurt to have one. Best if you can get someone else to pay though! T..

 

[Pyro Tim]

I should have a black one, as I'm a site manager, but when I apply, I am only eligible for a green one (labourer)

 

[makster]

Anyone who fails this test should be removed from the gene pool

 

[NeilM]

A colleague at my last firm failed it first time.

His product area was litter bins, recycling and waste disposal and he'd never been on a building site in his life. Reassured by everyone that it was 'just common sense' he took the test without checking any questions first. It was working at height, working in confined spaces, fire extinguishers, electricity and just about everything else a specialist in waste would know nothing about that caught him out. :mrgreen:

He nailed it on the second attempt.

 

[joe careless]

Funnily enough I am applying for one of these, one question regarding the nvq requirements, where/who do I provide my nvq certificates?

 

[russ77]

I think you send copies of your certificates when you send off the initial application. That's the bit that gets you registered. You then apply to do a trade-specific or general test at one of their centres.