CSCS Pushes Smart Cards for Demolition Operatives

Demolition operatives will be issued new style CCDO Smart Cards starting this September, the CSCS has recently revealed.

Following a comprehensive review of the Certificate of Competence for Demolition Operatives (CCDO) scheme whose purpose was to assess the degree to which the scheme meets the needs of the demolition sector, the organization has decided that as of the 1st of September 2016, all CCDO cards will be issued in accordance with the new CCDO Smart Card Scheme criteria and rules applied with a requirement to have or be registered for and working towards attaining an industry relevant NVQ, successfully attain the relevant Demolition Health, Safety & Environment Touch Screen Test or attend a National Demolition Training Group (NDTG) approved asbestos awareness course and card specific approved CCDO course with end test.

Further proving the CSCS' commitment to modern and innovative technologies, the card scheme has also gone SMART, which means that a Demolition Operative's complete training records can be accessed on site using an easy to use card reader and software via a smartphone, tablet or PC, making it simpler and quicker for operative to access site, whilst at the same time, as a manager or supervisor ensuring that an operative has the correct skills and competence to work on site.

NFDC Chief Executive Howard Button commented "The Demolition Industry is operating at the very forefront of the construction industry, and today's launch of the CCDO Smart Card Scheme shows just how technologically advanced we are. Howard Button also revealed that the NDTG is looking to extend the scheme to include Demolition Plant to provide a one card solution.

Tensor — preferred CSCS IT partner and experts in deploying CSCS smart card solutions for construction sites

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 — 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 automatically 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.