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'Easy' CSCS safety test to be revised
15:10 14 Aug 2002
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Exclusive by Paul Howard
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has revealed that the questions in its controversial health and safety test, which provides qualification for the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), are being revised.
David Nichols, the CITB's product manager for health and safety testing, said the revision was part of an ongoing process of monitoring the quality of the test that had begun at the end of last year. "Every single one of the 800 questions has been reviewed. It's an ongoing product and making improvements is part of the process."
Nichols denied suggestions the revision was in response to specific criticisms and said he didn't accept condemnation of the previous question bank. "There's no implication that it was inappropriate. There will always be criticisms and you can never please everybody," he said.
Nevertheless, certain questions that received censure for being either easy, inappropriate or ambiguous, such as "What is the purpose of the skin?", have been altered or removed.
And the question: "Who would you expect to carry out a risk assessment on your site? a) a competent person; b) a police officer; c) a manager of the caf' across the road; d) an RSPCA officer," has been changed to: "Who of the following would you expect to be responsible for managing health and safety on site? a) the local authority; b) the local HSE; c) the client; d) the site manager."
Nichols defended the process for selecting and reviewing the questions. "The questions are proposed by experts with various specialisations in health and safety and construction. They are then checked by independent editors, by health and safety experts and by an industry panel."
He added that an additional committee has been formed in response to criticisms of the test and pointed out that the experts involved in the revision of the question bank were not involved in the initial selection.
The updated set of questions will come into effect in the autumn.
l CJ staff passed the test with flying colours last week. See p2.
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has revealed that the questions in its controversial health and safety test, which provides qualification for the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), are being revised.
David Nichols, the CITB's product manager for health and safety testing, said the revision was part of an ongoing process of monitoring the quality of the test that had begun at the end of last year. "Every single one of the 800 questions has been reviewed. It's an ongoing product and making improvements is part of the process."
Nichols denied suggestions the revision was in response to specific criticisms and said he didn't accept condemnation of the previous question bank. "There's no implication that it was inappropriate. There will always be criticisms and you can never please everybody," he said.
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Nevertheless, certain questions that received censure for being either easy, inappropriate or ambiguous, such as "What is the purpose of the skin?", have been altered or removed.
And the question: "Who would you expect to carry out a risk assessment on your site? a) a competent person; b) a police officer; c) a manager of the caf' across the road; d) an RSPCA officer," has been changed to: "Who of the following would you expect to be responsible for managing health and safety on site? a) the local authority; b) the local HSE; c) the client; d) the site manager."
Nichols defended the process for selecting and reviewing the questions. "The questions are proposed by experts with various specialisations in health and safety and construction. They are then checked by independent editors, by health and safety experts and by an industry panel."
He added that an additional committee has been formed in response to criticisms of the test and pointed out that the experts involved in the revision of the question bank were not involved in the initial selection.
The updated set of questions will come into effect in the autumn.
l CJ staff passed the test with flying colours last week. See p2.
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