CSCS urges employers to prevent construction card fraud by using electronic smart cards

The CSCS is urging employers in the construction sector to carry out electronic smart card checks before allowing workers on site in order to ascertain that those working on site have the correct training and qualifications for the job they do.

A survey conducted last year confirmed many contractors and employers are still failing to take advantage of the technology, with many sites still using inefficient paper based systems or ineffective visual card inspections.

CSCS Communications and Public Affairs Manager Alan O’Neile said: “CSCS believes that for construction sites to remain safe and productive all workers should have the correct qualifications and training for the type of work they carry out. This was one of CSCS’s primary objectives when introducing the electronic SmartCard in 2010. The CSCS SmartCard provides a simple and cost effective way to tackle fraud and verify that workers hold the correct qualifications and training before allowing them on site.”

He continued: “The technology embedded in a CSCS card is free to use and allows a site manager access to a wealth of information about each worker, including their qualifications. By simply placing the card in a reader or onto a compatible device such as a tablet or smartphone you can instantly check the cards validity and the qualifications held by the card holder.”

Tensor – your partner of choice for Construction / Building Site Access Control and the implementation of CSCS electronic smart cards

Tensor is a preferred CSCS IT Partner and, as such, has further advanced our integration with the CSCS smartcard to enable features such as auto-learn where in learn mode, when a CSCS smartcard is scanned, several credentials from the CSCS smartcard are auto-inserted into the Tensor.NET software including photograph, name, title, CSCS card number and CSCS card expiry date to allow a seamless data entry facility. Tensor .NET then auto-inserts the CSCS smartcard’s expiry date into the employee leavers date field to ensure that the Tensor.NET denies access to a CSCS smartcard user who attempts to gain access with an expired CSCS smartcard.

Other advanced features that can be enabled include a separate verification process where CSCS smartcard holders must report to a Site Manager for the Site Manager to verify the Contractor’s details before permitting the CSCS smartcard to enter a site. This can be conducted on a site-by-site basis or can be applied to permit usage of a CSCS smartcard across a number of sites.

The CSCS smartcard, when used in conjunction with Tensor’s .NET software, Access Control and Time & Attendance products, provides a very powerful and cost effective means of centralising Time & Attendance, Advanced Access Control and Fire/Evacuation roll-call, re-using an existing CSCS smartcard as base for the entire system.

If you’d like to find out more about the Tensor access control systems and its integration with CSCS cards, just contacts us or Book a Demo, our representatives will be more than happy to answer all of your questions and queries.