9th August 2013, 05:17 PM
RedEarth Wrote:I assumed the CSCS card was just a scam to stop people who could speak English to a reasonable degree working in construction, since that's about the only reason you would fail the test, unless you were going out of your way to do so. Having said that, most of it is of no relevance to archaeologists anyway so perhaps we could be excused for not knowing all there is to know about fuel bunds, hot working, and toe boards on scaffolding.
The point of the CSCS card is not for safety per se, though I am happy to have learned more about white finger if I ever decide to become a professional drill hammerist? hammery? hammer?, the point is legal liability. Assuming something goes wrong on site they can use the CSCS card as a liability shield. They can say we were following the "professional" standards of the sector and thus can not be at fault when johnny cut his had off. If forces a lawyer to say that it is not just company X that is wrong but that every construction company and every construction project undertaken since the CSCS card was in effect are wrong. A very tall order for anyone.
Yes, it marginally improves safety but the real point is saving money on lawsuits.
And if you want to work for the construction industry, (cough) commercial archaeology, then you need one.