Construction is a risky business with one of the highest casualty rate among all professions.

Picture these scenarios: You’re working at a great height and a slight error on your part can send you crashing down the ground. Major electrical equipment explodes and many are charred to death. One mechanical crane lifts a ton too many and the heavy load crush people working underneath. Scary, right?

These and a lot more are the constant threats tradesmen work under day in day out.

You want them safe. They want to be safe. The Government wants them safe. Companies have their own reasons – saving insurance money, avoiding bad press and escaping legal troubles – to keep the workforce safe.

But how do we ensure that tradesmen are safer? That they are equipped to minimize accidents at worksites?

Most of the casualties are result of human errors. Though we can’t eliminate all the safety threats, what we can do instead is to train the workforce to minimize those human errors and thus casualties.

Training I understand…but why a Test?

Since passing the CSCS Test is mandatory to get the CSCS card and subsequently a job in construction, it’s essential that you gain knowledge of Health and Safety standards required to avoid accidents on site.

 How do I take the CSCS Test?

First you have to book the test. But before you do that, you need to check which test you’re eligible for. If you are an operative – anyone other than manager and supervisor – you need to take the CSCS Test for Operative. Working as a Supervisor or Manage onsite? Go for the CSCS Test Online for Supervisors OR the CSCS Test for Managers and Professionals respectively.

Tell me more about the CSCS Test and how to pass it

You get 45 minutes to answer 50 questions. Make sure you attempt all the questions in order to increase your chances of getting a score above 42/50 – the minimum passing mark. Out of 50 questions, 12 are based on behavioral case study while the rest 38 test your health and safety knowledge required in your role at site.

Be extra careful while answering 12 case study questions. Each following question is based on your previous answer and you can’t change an answer once given. Use your reason and analytical ability to the fullest. Each of the 3 Tests has a separate set of revision materials – DVD, Revision Book, and App (available on Android and IOS both). Each revision material consist a video (transcript in case of the Revision Book) – to help you through 12 behavioral case study questions – in addition to a set of mock-tests for the rest 38 knowledge based queries.

The more effort you put into the preparation, the more confident you’d feel about the test. I recommend you to go through the entire content and mock tests at least a couple of times. Good Luck!

Has the CSCS Test really helped the industry?

Come to think of it. The UK is now the safest country in Europe when it comes to construction related causalities. If this doesn’t qualify as help, I wonder what is.