Posted By leerob THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REPLIES REGARDING THIS QUESTION ,UNFORTUNATELY I WAS UNABLE TO READ ANY DUE TO JANE THE IOSH MODERATOR HIDING IT AS IT CAUSED SOME COMPLAINTS,SO IF ANYONE FINDS IT COULD THEY PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS I AM STILL NONE THE WISER TO THIS ISSUE .SO DOES THE NEBOSH GENERAL OVERRIDE THIS CARD AND IF SO HOW DO I APPLY AND FOR WHAT STATUS. PLEASE DONT SLATE ANY ORGANISATIONS AS I WOULD LIKE TO READ THESE REPLIES. REGARDS LEE

Posted By D H Lee - it does not matter what qualifications you have - if a client demands a CSCS card for accessing his site, you need that card or you don't get in. Simple as that. Dave

Posted By Jane Bastow As a CMIOSH with some clients requiring that everyone visiting their sites has a CSCS card I just went and did it. It doesn't take long, it is very easy and then I can happily tick the box on their form without having to ask them to consider my 30 years experience and shed load of qualifications - which the automaton evaluating the form will probably have never heard of - they just know everyone needs a CSCS card!

Posted By Crim What if we all, safety professionals I mean, decided to boycott the CSCS card system and none of us held a CSCS card due to us feeling that we are all well qualified through our many safety qualifications? Would this have any affect on construction sites if we were not allowed onto any site?

Posted By Rodger Alan Ker Some people are off on the same incorrect track again. Many, I think, have fallen into the way of thinking that CSCS cards are a “Safety Passport”. THEY ARE NOT, AND NEVER HAVE BEEN. The fact that each applicant has to take the “health & safety test” seems to assist the delusion. (a ten/twenty minute test for CSCS application as opposed to a two day health and safety orientated course for a CCNSG card. What is the comparison? What does CSCS stand for? Construction Skills Certification Scheme. Look at the four words very carefully, and then the middle two, SKILLS CERTIFICATION. CSCS was never meant to be, and never will be a “Safety Passport” it is supposed to indicate that the person holding it is competent in the trade or profession it represents. However it is true that if you asked the question: “What does possession of a CSCS Skill Card Indicate?” 1. that the person has been trained to work safely 2. that the person has a recognised appropriate level of competence in a particular trade or profession 3. that you wont get on site without one 4. make up your own question Most people would either answer one or three. So CSCS, in particular comes in for a lot of criticism, which I think is misplaced. It is worth remembering that taking the touch screen test is as demeaning for a skilled electrician carpenter or plumber as it is for a safety professional. It is also worth noting that a "qualified safety professional" may not have any experience in construction specialities such as excavations and scaffolding etc.

Posted By Rodger Alan Ker As part of the tender process for any contract (not just construction) the client, PC, subcontractor can place any requirement on anyone who wishes to work for them. If the client places in the tender that you must wear pink overalls on site, you have two choices, buy some pink overalls or decline to quote for the job. The main problem is not this type of request, but arriving on site and finding out for the first time that something specific is required that you have not been told about, because the information has not been cascaded down the chain.

Posted By D H Come on people! As safety people we probably demand all contractors coming onto our sites to undergo our own safety briefs, Toolbox talks etc. We don't say to some - "you are NEBOSH qualified so you don't have to listen". It is a requirement of the client or PC - so we need to comply Dave