This CSCS thing

[VGC]

Crib-disk?

[deadlylampshade]

Crib-disk?

That'll be a no, then!}

[archaeologyexile]

Dear all, sorry to pour scorn on the CSCS card, while some sites and employers want it it is useless.......and I believe that many of the bigger units are looking for another scheme altogether and one which is more expensive!

If I was going to recommend a course which is worth the paper its written on try the NEEBOSH or IOSH, and then google real jobs in the real world and find out how much they get! NEEBOSH is c ?1000 and takes 10-14 days with a real exam at the end!

[Dinosaur]

Crib-disk?

They used to send out a CD with all the possible questions and answers on so you could learn them all in advance and get a jolly good score, that not still exist? - maybe they thought that was taking all the fun out of it.....

[the invisible man]

I think the point of the thing is not to make a demanding course that a lot of site operatives (mostly not archaeologists of course) will fail, or to produce loads of qualified H&S experts. It's just a way of ensuring that everyone on site has read and understood some of the very basic points of H&S on site. Whether it achieves this or not is a matter for debate, but cobstruction site safety is taken far more seriously now than used to be the case - i.e. it is actually considered at all. This is not really thanks to CSCS but is largely down to CDM, in and of itself a largely pointless paper chase but at least bringing the issues to the fore.

[Dinosaur]

Sadly it's all gone too far judging by recent experiences. We had people coming down with heat-stroke last year because of the over-enthusiastic enforcement of unneccesary PPE requirements by the main contractor on one big scheme, endless problems/accidents due to the pointless wearing of goggles, numerous meetings along the lines of no, you actually can't use a camera while wearing half inch think safety gloves, etc etc. Many large construction contractors (particularly managers and H&S enforcers) can't deal with the concept of someone getting out of their vehicle and actually doing some manual work, and hence heap on stupid rules to cover their own a**es which actually lead to accidents....steamed-up goggles not a good idea on pipeline corridor covered in holes....:face-crying:

[deadlylampshade]

Sadly it's all gone too far judging by recent experiences. We had people coming down with heat-stroke last year because of the over-enthusiastic enforcement of unneccesary PPE requirements by the main contractor on one big scheme, endless problems/accidents due to the pointless wearing of goggles, numerous meetings along the lines of no, you actually can't use a camera while wearing half inch think safety gloves, etc etc. Many large construction contractors (particularly managers and H&S enforcers) can't deal with the concept of someone getting out of their vehicle and actually doing some manual work, and hence heap on stupid rules to cover their own a**es which actually lead to accidents....steamed-up goggles not a good idea on pipeline corridor covered in holes....:face-crying:

H&S at its worse Dino...alas this is what happens when there is an arbitrary standard...you need to add another CS to the CSCS...Common Sense!

[the invisible man]

Well, my understanding is that common sense is actually the over-riding factor. In attempting to cover their rears these guys could in fact be putting thenselves at risk, but obviously only a court (or perhaps the HSE?) after the event can decide. The main principle is always to assess the situation and actual conditions. The problem is indeed that slavishly following percieved "elfin safety regs" and using standardized Risk Assessments and H&S Plans/Files leads to the situation you describe. In some cases (not all) HSE people have done this themselves.

[GnomeKing]

a simple approach to client / HSE rep etc usually doers the job - problem is weak managers who are not able to broach the subject, fawning and prostituting themselves (+ their staff) because they are unable to have simple straightforward intelligent conversation...

[deadlylampshade]

Deleted my last about TABS Training...sadly it doesn't cover the Archaeology technician...thought it was a bit too good to be true...