About the ECITB
The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board is a statutory body with responsibilities to Parliament and the industry. It was formed in recognition of the engineering construction industry’s vital role in the UK economy. The board’s primary purpose is to initiate, promote, improve and facilitate training throughout the industry.
Introduction
The basic passport course is valid for 3 years, and any candidate can revalidate his/her passport by attending and successfully passing the one day up-date course. This is providing that the original passport is no more than 3 months out of date. Should their card have expired more than 3 months’ earlier then they will need to sit the entire 2 day basic course again.
Where a basic card has a supervisor endorsement which is still in date, the endorsement will be transferred to the new card.
A supervisor wishing to renew their supervisor endorsement will need to attend and successfully complete the one day supervisor course.
Old passports must be brought to the course, and handed over to BSS, who will then destroy them after the details are recorded and passed on to the ECITB register.
The course has been created to be both informative and interactive, so assisting candidates to appreciate that what they do does have an impact upon health and safety within the working environment.
Due to the interactive nature of the course all courses are limited to a maximum of 16 delegates.
Course Content
The course is designed to review in an interactive way the following ten modules:
1 Health and safety law including Permit To Work
2 Safe Working Practices
3 Safe Access and Egress
4 Accidents and First Aid Procedures
5 Fire Precautions and Procedures
6 COSHH and Personal Protective Equipment
7 Manual Handling
8 Noise
9 Working with Cranes and Heavy Equipment
10 Excavations
Testing
There is a modular end test, which comprises 5 multi-choice questions per module, and candidates must achieve a minimum 80% in order to pass. Subject to successfully passing this test, the Training Provider (BSS) will issue a credit card sized certificate (passport) to delegates. The certificate is the property of the employee - not the contractor. The certificate contains the delegate’s name, expiry date of the passport (which is 3 years from the date of passing the test), and a card number.
Following completion of the course, the Training Provider must send a completed Safety Training Record Form to the ECITB Head Office. Information contained on this form will enable completion of the health and safety database maintained by the ECITB.
Course Feedback
The course itself involves a significant amount of trainee participation. The content is something that most contractors know something about and some a great deal. Lively discussions normally ensue.
In presenting the course, the trainer will talk with the trainees rather than at the trainees, giving the continuous message “if it looks unsafe then it probably is”.