The credibility of a CITB site safety plus course for site managers.

Mangers familiar with the CITB scheme site safety plus courses will be aware that there are several options available, but that they may not all be suitable for someone in a site management position.

Firstly there are the courses not specific to any particular role such as Achieving Behavioural Change (ABC), Health and Safety Awareness Training and the Site Sustainability Simplified course. While it is possible for managers to do these course is they believe they will benefit, they are no specifically designed to address the site managers’ role. 

The same is true of the SSSTS or site supervisors safety training scheme course. It is directly aimed at those in a team lead role, rather than persons that are managing the entire site. This is reflected in the shorter duration of two days compared to the longer five day duration for the SMSTS course.

The other Site safety plus options available are the PMSTS and SMSTS course. The PMSTS or Plant Managers Safety Training Scheme is designed specially for managers who are working with heavy plant machinery. It is planned to ensure that all the risks with working with plat are addresses and minimised. While it is a manager’s course, it is more specific than the SMSTS course and covers issues particular to managing plant and plant workers, rather than general site manager’s responsibilities and skills. 

Now on to the SMSTS course itself. The SMSTS course is available as two options. The full course and the refresher. The full course lasts for five days, while the refresher lasts for just two. Delegates that have not previously completed the SMSTS course successfully or if their certificate validity has expired over five year and the six months grace period set by the CITB, will need to do the full course.

Delegates that have successfully completed the full course and are with in six months of the validity period of their certificate can save money and time by getting a refresher done instead. The full course covers legal responsibilities, legislation, moral reasonability, site risks, identify and minimising and basic management skills, in depth over the five day period. While the refresher goes over the key points of this and updates mangers as to any additional legislation that has changed since completed their first course. 

SMSTS full and refresher courses are available throughout the UK. All refreshers run across two consecutive days, While the full course is available in three different forms.

The first is the block course. Delegates can complete a block course in five back to back days, making it the quickest option. Delegates can complete the day release course over fives weeks, for one day per week. Although it takes longer, it is really convenient for those who are really busy on site. The third option is the dedicated course. This is when a trainer delivers the course to a group of delegates at their own venue. This suits larger groups (min 4) better as the more people on the course the better the savings for the company.