CITB Revokes Thousands of CSCS Cards

Industry News

CITB Revokes Thousands of CSCS Cards

Thousands of construction workers have had their CSCS cards revoked following an investigation into card fraud at five test centres.

A total of 4,615 cards have been taken away by the CITB as part of an ongoing probe after the BBC’s Newsnight revealed in October that workers were paying cash to fraudulently pass CSCS tests.

Following the investigation, more than 6,000 candidates who had completed their health, safety and environment test and more than 2,000 people who had completed the site safety plus certificate were required to retake their test.

The Construction Skills Certification Scheme wrote to all the affected cardholders in November to tell them they needed to retake their tests.

They were given until 20 December to register or risk cancellation of their CSCS card.

Of those affected, a total of 5,480 did not register to retake their test and as a result their test result is now void. Of those individuals who have already used their test result to obtain a card, 4,615 cards have been revoked.

The 553 remaining candidates have until the 14 February to pass their tests before their cards are also revoked.

CSCS chief executive Graham Wren said: “We take assurance that CITB’s in-depth analysis was accurate.

“While we accept that some people have been inconvenienced, we have kept this to a minimum and removed unsafe cards from circulation.

“We are urging employers to check the validity of all cards by either electronically reading the CSCS SmartCard or by using ‘Card Checker’ via the CITB website, to make sure that invalid cards are not permitted on site.”

He added: “While the number of people suspected of fraudulent activity is relatively small, compared to the 400,000 cards issued each year, this type of behaviour has the potential to undermine legitimate employees and harm the reputation of the industry.

“It is important employers are able to trust the training and qualification providers as well as the card certification schemes carrying the CSCS logo.”

Source: Construction News

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