Ensure you have the right Streetworks Qualification

If you currently hold a streetworks course qualification, you will be very interested to learn that you can renew it without re-sitting the whole course. Instead of re-taking each unit separately you can now use the re-qualification courses to refresh your knowledge and sit an exam for each. Saving those already qualified time and money, this innovation in the delivery of NRSWA courses is being rolled out by training providers across the UK. The tests for each module are in exam conditions though, so be sure to turn off those mobiles!

However, if you are new to NRSWA, you will need to complete a streetworks course. The courses, lasting from one to five days, depending on the number of units taken, are split into two categories. The supervisor streetworks course is for those who have additional responsibilities such as team or gang leaders. They are designed to make the job of ensuring your teams is safe, while they complete their tasks easier and more efficient.

The operator streetworks course is specifically for those engaged in the tasks of maintenance and construction on the roads and highways of the UK. It covers how to work safely as well as a number of tasks including signing, lighting and guarding, excavations, backfills, modular paving and hot and cold lay.

A frequent question from both supervisors and operatives is, how do I get a NRSWA qualification? The quick answer is that by achieving different combination of the 9 units available. The long answer, is of course a little more detailed. The streetworks course qualifications (S1 - S6, for supervisors and 01 - 06, for operatives) are made up of combination of the nine available units. The nine units cover the same topics for supervisors and operatives, but the the supervisors’ units are focused around how to monitor their team perform the tasks. You can tell if it is a supervisors’ unit as it begins with a single zero, while the operatives’ units start with a double zero. The exception to this rule being unit 001 (Location and avoidance of underground apparatus). This is open to both supervisors and operatives as no one, lets face it, wants to burst a water main or worse while they are digging!

To achieve a qualification you must have the correct group of units. For example an operator must have units 001 (Location and avoidance of underground apparatus), 002 (Signing, lighting and guarding) and 009 (Reinstatement of modular surfaces and concrete footways) to achieve qualification 05 (Reinstatement of modular surfaces and concrete footways). A supervisor must have 001 (Location and avoidance of underground apparatus), 010 (Monitoring signing, lighting and guarding) and 016 (Monitoring reinstatement of modular surfaces and concrete footways) to gain the S5 qualification (Monitor reinstatement of modular surfaces and concrete footways).

The units only needed to be completed once, and then can be used for more than one qualification at a time, until their validity expires. Completing units 002 or 010 (signing, lighting and guarding also now qualifies the operative or supervisor for qualifications 06 or S6 and a streetworks card.

More detail on the combination of units in streetworks qualifications can be found at http://www.swqr.org.uk/mini/26951.html.