Ask him to provide evidence by assembling a tower in line with the requirements of the W@H Regs. See if he starts off with the Manufacturers CURRENT Instruction Manual, checks the condition, compatibility and number of the components. Ask him if he knows the maximum windspeed for working on a freestanding tower, when standard stabilisers should be affixed (and when they should be changed to adjustable ones) The bottom line is some people SPECIALISE in a certain subject (in this case towers) The person you spoke to who was CITB trained (when?) and has achieved CMIOSH may specialise in Asbestos, for example but have a general idea on how to build a tower. Ask him about the 3T method or The Advance Guard Rail system (AGR) Certainly if he has had a recent training on tower assembly by another company, with or without Pasma, that should be sufficient to prove his competence. I deliver Pasma training as required and Alloy Tower training when people only want to comply wth the 'Suitable and Sufficient Training' requirements and also want to keep costs down. The assembly methods are the same on BOTH courses.

Hi DJ1, I am CMIOSH and have been in the H&S game for very many years. I have zero competence in erecting a scaffold tower, although I do still have my NEBOSH notes on scaffolding from 20 years ago.

Frank Mine comes from the HSE - just shows how flexible definitions are:-)

Well as we were talking about Towers, let's go with the PASMA one. :-)

Frank Was really referring to the fact that they are very difficult to erect from a wheelchair:-) even my all terrain one!! - I stopped doing such tasks a number of years ago hence no up to date card. I was really pointing out that the mere statement such as CITB or any other trained means nowt without further detail. I am concerned that a CMIOSH is asserting competence in such a manner as outlined. It leaves me breathless. Bob