Employers in the construction segment urged to check CSCS cards electronically
The Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) have revoked 4,615 cards, following investigations into fraudulent activity at five test centres, the CSCS has just revealed.
CSCS is committed to safety and works with CITB, the British Safety Council and others to verify that individuals have achieved the required qualifications before a CSCS card is issued.
CSCS wrote to all affected card holders in November to tell them that they needed to retake their HS&E test. Vouchers were provided to pay for retesting and steps were taken to reduce inconvenience for businesses.
Following analysis of how the test was answered, using known testing patterns and geographical factors, over 6,000 candidates who had completed the Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) Test and more than 2,000 people who had completed the Site Safety Plus certificate were required to retake their test. This was to eliminate any doubt.
Graham Wren, Chief Executive at CSCS, said: “We take assurance that CITB’s in-depth analysis was accurate. While we accept that some people have been inconvenienced we have kept this to a minimum and removed unsafe cards from circulation.”
“We are urging employers to check the validity of all cards by either electronically reading the CSCS SmartCard or by using “Card Checker” via the CSCS website, to make sure that invalid cards are not permitted on site.”
Access Control UK– the partner of choice for Construction / Building Site Access Control
Professionals who hold a CSCS card can use their existing card to gain access to a construction site or similar, including through turnstiles or car park barriers. The WinAC.NET software includes a CSCS card wizard that allows system users to quickly grant contractors access to their access control system.
Other advanced features that can be enabled include a separate verification process where CSCS smartcard holders must report to a Site Manager for the Site Manager to verify the Contractor’s details before permitting the CSCS smartcard to enter a site. This can be conducted on a site-by-site basis or can be applied to permit usage of a CSCS smartcard across a number of sites.
The CSCS smartcard provides a very powerful and cost effective means of centralising Time & Attendance, Advanced Access Control and Fire/Evacuation roll-call, re-using an existing CSCS smartcard as base for the entire system.
If you’d like to find out more about the integration of Access Control Systems with CSCS cards, just contacts us or Book a Demo, our representatives will be more than happy to answer all of your questions and queries.
