They've made even more of a mess of the cards than we had before.

Take the 'operative' H&S test and apply for the visitor card and then stop worrying about it because no-one ever asks to see it anyway.

That's what we do for all our people that don't qualify for PQP - though it's now even more open to be interpreted as demeaning since they've renamed it 'escorted site visitor'. We use them mainly for people with foreign degrees (or higher), who may be highly qualified and highly experienced, but because (eg) a Greek PhD isn't on the list they don't qualify for anything else.

Was in the same boat, but luckily I have the Nebosh Construction Certificate, so as from January was able to apply for the Academically Qualified Person (AQP) Lasts 5 years.

I also told all my operatives to apply for a green card, since not one of our clients who wants our operatives working on their works to have a CSCS card seem to understand anything regarding the CSCS scheme and what it is all about.

From 1st July 2014 the green Construction Site Operative (CSO) card is no longer being issued. There is a new green CSCS card only available for people working in labouring occupations.
If you work in a labouring occupation you can apply for the new green labourer card.
You will need to:
Provide evidence that you have achieved one of the following:
QCF/SCQF Level 1 Award Health and Safety in a Construction Environment*
or
One day Site Safety Plus Health and Safety Awareness course.
You must also pass the CITB Operatives Health, Safety and Environment test within two years prior to applying for a new card.

The one day training courses are around £120 pounds.

So it seems that the labour force in the UK has to pay even more money now to get a job.
CSCS Test £17.50, CSCS Card £30.00, One day training course £120.00ish.

What happened to the good old days when the company you worked for gave you some training.

Zero Hour contracts & Agencies = Cheap labour force

jarsmith

That is an absurd situation. What reasoning did CSCS give for insisting that a chartered H&S practitioner has to complete a one day attendance course, to enable that person to sit in front of a screen and answer 10 minutes of multiple choice questions. Surely that is wrong whichever way you look at it.

How on earth have we got to this position where the accepted norm is to waste time and money on these ridiculous card schemes.

rant over.....

Having passed the CITB's HS&E test for managers I contacted them to enquire about getting the Academically Qualified Person's CSCS Card as on their web site it gives a list of NEBOSH qualifications required (http://www.cscs.uk.com/cscs-cards/types-of-card/white-cards/academically-qualified-person-aqp).
As I hold the 'National Certificate in Construction Safety & Health' issued by NEBOSH I thought I would be qualified, however the list CITB use show the certificate should be the 'National Certificate in Construction Health & Safety' therefore my certificate is not acceptable.
Following three months of wrangling with CITB and with help from a very helpful lady at IOSH they have now excepted my certificate and issued me an AQP CSCS Card.

Its annoying i agree but the fact remains people are memorising the cscs answers without fully understanding the multitude of behaviours, decisions and dangers, then passing the test and causing or injuring or killing themselves on site.

Delivering the SSP other L1 HSC award i note that it delves much more into 'Employers' responsibilities for example what is the employers duties under PUWER and WAHR etc- something that operatives or labourers have not really needed to consider very much, "What must the employer do to comply". The inference is "What must the employer do?" so that the employee can ask for, or demand. I like this element of it as its a good way of updating operatives/labourers knowledge every three years if they have not progressed or developed professionally in any way

Construction has always been viewed as an occupation that could be selected if all else fails "I can always get a job carrying bricks etc". Many of the applicants i see think this way- as do many JCP advisors, It is so not the case anymore.

I too came to a quick opinion similar to all your thoughts about cscs recognition at our level and how this dosen't compute with cscs mystifies me. So, I have NEBOSH NGC, Tech iosh, WTW L5 Diploma, IEMA, consult on design and developing HSEQ systems and 30 yrs operational management experience in Logistics operations. I have a CTTLS- Teach CSCS H&S, L1 HSC and SSP bi weekly for a local college and now I'm off to take my L1 HSC in order to renew my operatives…oops Labourers card. Hey ho...