Ucatt said that workers were being “duped into paying over the odds” for CSCS cards and the mandatory CITB Health, Safety & Environment Test.
Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) cards are a requirement for construction workers to work on most construction sites. To receive a card workers have to have first passed the touch-screen health and safety test. Currently, more than 1.7 million people hold CSCS cards and they must be renewed every five years.
Ucatt’s warning is a result of concerns raised by CSCS about third party agencies ripping off workers by charging significantly above the standard fees.
The normal cost of a CSCS card is £30 and the health and safety test costs £17.50. In one case a third party agency has been charging an additional £25.50 just for the test.
It is understood that workers searching for information for CSCS cards can inadvertently follow electronic links, directly to the internet site of third party agencies.
Ucatt general secretary Steve Murphy, who is on the CSCS board of directors, said: “The CSCS card is the single most important method in ensuring that construction workers have the correct skills and they make sites safer. For a third party to be profiting from this scheme in an underhand manner is reprehensible.”
Mr Murphy added: “Ucatt’s advice is for workers who need a CSCS card to double check that they are speaking to the CSCS helpdesk or are on the CSCS website before they book anything, in order to ensure that they don’t have to pay hidden charges.”
Workers who are concerned about where and how to book a test or receive a card, should call the CSCS Helpdesk on 0844 5768777. To book a health and safety test go to www.citb.co.uk or call 0344 994 4488.
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