CSCS reveals plans to phase out Construction Related Occupations (CRO) cards

The CSCS has revealed plans to introduce a new set of measures as of the 1'st of October 2015 in order to pave the way for the eventual withdrawal of the Construction Related Occupations (CRO) card.

The CRO card was introduced in 2005 at the request of industry and was intended for those occupations for which there were no nationally recognised qualifications. Since 2005 over 300,000 CRO cards have been issued covering more than 400 occupations.

However, following the introduction of the green Labourer card in July 2014 applications for the Construction Related Occupation (CRO) card have grown significantly. Many applicants are now applying for the CRO card as no qualifications are required and they only need to pass the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test to be eligible for a card.

This clearly demonstrates CRO cards are being used by site workers as the fastest route of entry to site without the need or commitment to be qualified, which indicates that the CRO card is no longer fit for purpose and CSCS has consulted with industry to determine the best way to address this issue.

CSCS's primary objective is to provide evidence that individuals working on construction sites have the required training and qualifications for the type of work they carry out. As a such, the organization has announced a series of steps that will lead to the CRO card being eventually phased out.

From 1st October 2015 the following changes to the CRO card will be introduced:

— All CRO cards issued from 1st October 2015 will expire on 30th September 2017* and are not renewable

— You will be expected to register for a nationally recognised construction related qualification before the card expires

— Only one occupation will be displayed on your CRO card from 1st October 2015

— CSCS will stop issuing CRO cards from 31st March 2017.

Tensor CSCS Card Time and Attendance helps manage construction site access

Construction workers and other people who hold a CSCS card can use their existing card to clock onto a Tensor Time & Attendance system and/or gain access to a construction site or similar, or use the CSCS card to gain access through turnstiles or car park barriers.

Within Tensor.NET there is a CSCS card wizard. This allows system users to quickly grant contractors access to their clocks and access control system.

One feature most companies will certainly appreciate is the possibility to fully customize badge creation, since the system allows templates for badges to be previewed by the user to see how their badge will appear, populating it with their personal details. Previewed badges can then be printed to any windows supported card printer.

The templates can be single or double sided, in landscape or portrait format and can include a variety of content types, including here text, images and barcodes.

If you'd like to find out more about Tensor's CSCS Wizard, just contact our dedicated product team or Book a Demo, our representatives will be more than happy to answer every and all of your queries.