Sites Go Smart with SmartCards in Construction Manager

Published: July 5, 2016

Construction Manager, the official magazine of the CIOB, is helping CSCS to push for more sites to adopt SmartCard technology. Despite the numerous benefits of the CSCS Smartech contained in every CSCS card, recent surveys show that few sites are taking advantage of this free feature. Alan O’Neile writes:

“Despite the availability of new technology, many sites still use paper based filing to capture workers’ details. In a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) survey of 1,180 site-based staff around the UK, 69% of respondents said they were still checking cards using a paper-based system, with only 6% using “smart” technology. This process is not only inefficient and time consuming, but requires a significant amount of dedicated administrative resource to process the information and keep it up to date. The survey also revealed that while 86% of cardholders had their cards checked, only 43% were checked to see if they were actually qualified to do the job. This lax approach raises questions not only about the qualifications of workers on these projects, but also about their health and safety credentials. Not thoroughly checking the qualifications of site workers puts the safety of others at risk and harms the reputation of the industry when accidents occur.”

CSCS Smartcards offer a quick and efficient way to perform a number of tasks including:

• Checking an employee’s identity and training
• Checking when qualifications expire
• Record in-house training
• Control access to site areas
• Gather a wide array of site information into an easily usable database.

The CSCS Gosmart app can be downloaded for Android and Windows devices, or used with a pc and an inexpensive card reader, which can be bought from our preferred supplier.