Experienced tradesmen ‘losing out over paperwork’
Tuesday 29th March 2011, 4:07PM BST.
A 55-year-old Shropshire carpenter today claimed he and hundreds of other experienced tradesmen were being knocked back from jobs as they cannot provide paperwork to prove they completed an apprenticeship.
John Howells, of Shrewsbury, began working as a joiner in 1972 and has decades of experience in the trade. He said in the last two years building firms had started to ask employees to provide a CSCS (Construction Safety Certification Scheme) card.
But Mr Howells said he could not secure a CSCS card as he has no paperwork to prove he carried out his apprenticeship, now almost 40 years ago.
He believes hundreds of other tradesman of a similar age are battling to find work due to the “scandalous bureaucracy”.
Mr Howells, who has worked on projects involving Grade I listed buildings, said the new laws were a further punishment to an older generation of builders at a time when work is hard enough to find.
“There are hundreds of tradesman out there in my position who can’t prove they done an apprenticeship,” said Mr Howells.
“This means we can’t get a CSCS card which you need to gain insurance on a building site. I’ve worked all over the county since the 1970s but I’ve not got paperwork to say I carried out my apprenticeship.
“Up until two years ago I worked for a company for 15 years. Now I have to find work through the job centre and most of the jobs require the CSCS card.
“Luckily I have found work through an agency who can insure me but this scandalous bureaucracy is keeping hundreds of experienced people out of work. It’s totally and utterly wrong.
“A lot of these tradesman are the best in the game and yet they are being put through this rigmarole.”
Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for Health and Safety Executive, said: “There is no legal requirement for constructions workers to have a card to prove they are competent at their job.
“The CDM regulations 2007 require companies to ensure that they are using competent workers.
“They can do this by whatever means they choose, as long as they are satisfied of their competence.”
The Construction Safety Certificate Scheme was unavailable for comment.
By Sam Pinnington
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Don’t lose valuable paperwork is the lesson to be learnt here!!
seriously though the thing to do is contact the award body and try and get a duplicate copy. Failing that contact Shrewsbury college, joinery department for advice or training.
Good luck
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By the time he has retained he would be a few years of retirement.
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Problem is now they want to see it ALL on paper, trouble is as with many who can provide the paperwork the employer later finds they cant actually do the job.
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CSCS cards have been around for many many years. I have had one since 1996 / 97. The big construction companies have been requiring all employees and contractors to hold a cscs card for 3 or 4 years now.
I suspect that Mr Howells has turned a blind eye to this fact for many years whilst he could get work but now we are in a recession, he is complaining that its the bureaucracy that is holding him back.
CSCS cards are a vital part of the HSEQ systems being partial proof that the person
has at least had some basic HSEQ training as well as being a tradesman.
This is a but of a non story I’m afraid.
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Not a non story to mr howells is it ? many many years then you say 1996/97 blimey thats decades ago .
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well 1996 wasn’t yesterday and you cannot have sympathy for someone who ignores the world around them for so long. This is not a new requirement, it is not new news.
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Well when a local education establishments takes on tradesmen with out it to maintain their buildings simply because they get a tradesman on the cheap, you have to ask yourself many questions of the worth of this piece of paper.
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i have also done my apprentiship and got my city and guilds,but i have also still got the certificate to show that i passed in 1972, was proud off it and still am, but now companies want cscs cards which i have also got but let it run out.
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“The Construction Safety Certificate Scheme was unavailable for comment”
Well that was helpful of them….
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It’s not a legal requirement, but we sleep walk into bureacratization in this country and suddenly, urban myths are considered hard and fast laws and regulations. Half of the paperwork of this nature was generated by the last government to create non jobs in training and administration. Helping skilled tradesmen and honestly improving standards in industry simply didn’t enter into it.
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Whilst working on a recent major construction project the director of the health and site safety dept openly stated that the CSCS scheme is exceptionally adept at creating red tape, headaches and financial gain for the CSCS.
Health and safety along with training and skills development are nessecities but need to be simplified.
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Whilst having a CSCS card is not itslef going to help improve H&S and quality workmanship, it must help.
Making everyone in construction think about and answer 30 or 40 basic skills & safety questions every 3 years keeps it in peoples minds. Construction is a dangerous game. It kills 50 to 60 people every year, injuries many thousands more. Most of these are aviodable, either by better planning or by better skills. CSCS is an attempt to get a common base of standard skills & safety knowledge.
I would rather we had something than nothing and at present that something is CSCS or a similar card.
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i held a cscs card then went to ireland to work,i was origanaly isued one on grandfather rights.the cscs have taken my right to work,i asked them about this time after time for diepensation as id not been informed about change,to think i left school became a bricklayer worked all over europe,worked as a forman ran my own subcontract firm,now im unskilled in their eyes a nothing.
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