CSCS ends exemption to Health, safety and environment test requirement
Published: September 2, 2019 by CSCS (www.cscs.co.uk)
CSCS has ended an exemption CSCS card applicants could previously use to get a CSCS card without passing the Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) Health, safety and environment test.
In most cases, to get a CSCS card, an applicant must:
- Hold a recognised construction related qualification (usually an NVQ or SVQ)
- Pass the CITB Health, safety and environment test within the last 2 years.
However, before the 2nd September, applicants who had achieved an SVQ or NVQ within the last 2 years did not have to pass the CITB Health, safety and environment test.
This exemption has now been ended. All applicants will be required to pass the CITB Health, safety and environment test regardless of when they obtained their NVQ or SVQ. If applicants have not passed the test, a card will not be issued.
CSCS’s Director of Operations Gordon Jenkins said: “Accepting the recent completion of an SVQ or NVQ as an exemption to taking the CITB Health, safety and environment test is no longer in step with the wishes of the industry and as such the exemption will be withdrawn.”
Gordon Jenkins continued “CSCS, together with our 35 partner card schemes, are bound by the requirements of the Industrial Strategy for Construction. The Industrial Strategy is overseen by The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) who, in 2015, announced that cards displaying the CSCS logo should only issue skilled cards to applicants who hold nationally recognised construction qualifications and have passed a separate health and safety element.”