The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) is warning that the Industry Accreditation (Grandfather Rights) period for Electrotechnical Certification Scheme cards is due to come to an end on February 6, 2006.
The scheme requires that all personnel on construction sites operated by members of the Major Contractors Group carry a recognised health and safety skills competence card.
Chris Pinder, BSIA Group Projects Manager says: "All those who need a card and have not applied for one under Industry Accreditation by February 6 will need to provide proof of a completed apprenticeship, obtain a NVQ Level 2 or 3 or at least be registered for the NVQ by that date. We are therefore advising people to apply as soon as possible. Many people currently have a card through industry accreditation, which is based on proven experience. The renewal of these cards post-February 2006 should not be a problem provided the card is not allowed to lapse.
"The breadth of organisations insisting on these competence cards is beginning to expand and is starting to include government and local authorities. The enforcement of the scheme is also becoming stricter. Therefore, companies should certainly start planning ahead."
The Joint Industry Board (JIB) is the body that administer the cards. To date, 1770 of the security discipline cards have been issued of which only 51 have been secured with a completed apprenticeship or NVQ, the trade association reports. The JIB has advised companies to get applications to them before November, to avoid a predicted backlog at this time. Despite this, any application received by the JIB before February 6, will be able to take advantage of industry accreditation. As there has traditionally been a relatively small demand in the security industry for NVQs, the BSIA reports, there is little infrastructure in place to support any large increase in demand for such qualifications. Therefore BSIA members should advise the association, and non-members should advise their training provider, if they are anticipating an increased requirement for NVQs post-February 2006, the Worcester-based BSIA adds.
