Thanks Mark for that helpful insight.
Highlights two of the many problems with CSCS.
First, if you know that there are only 500 possible questions and the "correct" answers are published, some would simply swot up on THOSE questions and might not even consider why the "correct" answers have been decided on, let alone why some other answer might be equally valid or any of the other H&S issues that somebody going for Card type X may have to deal with in the real world.
Next for many doing the test some of the questiona are going to be entirely irrelevant to what they will be doing for the next 5 years. Only a small fraction of them will be working on or near trunk roads.
...and even though they may, the rules might vary depending on who the Client is, who the Contractor is (if approrpriate) and the usual speed limit on the road.
So without trying to second guess what the relevant question amongst the 500 might be, suppose it asks "What clothing is required on or near A roads to ensure that a worker is easily seen?"
The correct answer COULD be:
1. Hi vis jackets or coveralls with full length sleeves to Class 3 fluorescent yellow or fluorescent orange-red + ditto trousers.
2. As above + white safety helmet with chin strap or lanyard.
3. As above + white helmet but with specifying the chin strap or lanyard as those aren't really about making the worker visible but protecting passing traffic from flying helmets!
I'm hoping that they don't expect the candidate to also remember the relevant EN ISO numbers!!!
However the starting point for those answers is "MCHW" which directly applies to those operating and maintaining trunk roads and many A roads are not trunk roads.
So, the items in No 1 are required for work on or near all trunk roads but if a "high speed road" (i.e. usual speed limit of 50 mph or more, then also item in No 2.
In general, other highways authorities usually follow MCHW but unlike e.g. Highways England and its supply chain, they don't have to.
But the person sitting this test might be working for a Client or someone in their supply chain that demands even more stringent standards. May be yellow footwear? [Yes, yellow wellies with steel toe-caps and mid-soles have been put on the market]
.......but then as well such issues, suppose this is a Manager who works on civil engineering projects, they may need to know what is meant by "on or near" a road whereas this is probably irrelevant to the Manager who works on construction sites building blocks of flats, unless they just want to do well in trivia quizzes or portray as the Safety Hero and tell others how to behave.
Ultimately, in effect, CSCS have got themselves to a situation of H&S by rote answer. Is this conducive to constructive (pun intended) thinking about H&S on sites?
Edited by user 07 August 2025 10:36:38(UTC)
| Reason: Tweaks