CITB Health and Safety Awareness: who needs it, and how it links to your CSCS card

If you're starting out in construction, or you've been told you need a green card before a site will let you in, you'll probably come across the CITB Health and Safety Awareness course, often shortened to HSA. It's one day long, it's written for people with little or no site experience, and it's one of the recognised routes to the CSCS Labourer card.

What the course is

CITB describes HSA as an awareness-level course that gives construction workers the foundation of knowledge they need to keep themselves and others healthy and safe on site. It explains your own responsibilities, what your employer must do, and what to do if you think someone's health or safety is at risk.

Who it's for

• new starters and people looking for their first job on site
• labourers and general operatives who need a CSCS Labourer card
• apprentices and career changers who want a grounding before they start
• employers' new recruits, trained together in their first week

There are no formal entry requirements. CITB asks that delegates have English at operative level, and the course is designed to suit all abilities.

What it covers

The course is built around five modules:

1. General rules, regulations and responsibilities: the law in plain terms, and who is responsible for what.
2. Health and welfare: welfare facilities, occupational health, noise, dust and harmful substances.
3. General safety: site rules, safety signs, work equipment, manual handling and fire.
4. High-risk activities: work at height, excavations, plant and vehicles, and other activities that cause serious injuries.
5. Environmental awareness: waste, pollution and the site's effect on its neighbours.

How it's assessed

At the end of the day there's a 30-minute, closed-book exam of 25 multiple-choice questions. The pass mark is 80%, which means 20 correct answers. You need to attend the full day as well as pass the exam to receive your certificate.

How HSA links to the CSCS Labourer card

This is where people get confused, because two different things are involved.

For the Labourer card, CSCS asks for:

1. A qualification or approved course: the Level 1 Award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment, or an approved alternative. The CITB Health and Safety Awareness course is one of CSCS's approved alternatives.
2. The CITB Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) test: a separate touch-screen test, booked with CITB, at the operative level.

So the HSA course is not the HS&E test. You need both. Many people take the course first, because it covers much of what the test asks about, and then book the test.

Validity and renewal

CSCS treats the CITB HSA certificate as valid for five years for card purposes, and says five-year courses must have been completed within four years of your card application. Alternative courses that have expired can't be reused: when you renew, you'd retake the course or take the Level 1 Award, which doesn't expire. CSCS also explains that a first Labourer card lasts two years, and can then be renewed for five years if you're working as a labourer. Rules change, so check the current position on the CSCS website before you apply.

Booking the HS&E test

The HS&E test is booked directly with CITB; CSCS doesn't arrange it. For a Labourer card you take the operative-level test. When you apply for your card, CSCS asks for your CITB testing ID, and the test must normally have been passed within the two years before you apply. Passing the test doesn't produce a card automatically: you still submit your application to CSCS with your course certificate.

A sensible order for most new starters is:

1. take the one-day HSA course
2. book and pass the operative HS&E test while the material is fresh
3. apply to CSCS for the Labourer card with your HSA certificate and test details

What comes after the Labourer card?

The Labourer card is a starting point. As you gain skills in a trade, the next step is usually a Level 2 NVQ in your occupation, which leads to the Blue Skilled Worker card. Supervisors go on to a Level 3 or Level 4 NVQ for the Gold card. Our guides to which NVQ you need for your CSCS card and the Gold card NVQs explain the route, and you can browse every construction NVQ we offer.

When you start supervising others, the next CITB course is usually SSSTS.

HSA or IOSH Working Safely?

They're similar in spirit: both are one-day introductions to working safely. The difference is the sector. HSA is written for construction sites and is approved for the CSCS Labourer card. IOSH Working Safely is written for any workplace, so it suits factory, warehouse and office staff better. For a building site, choose HSA.

Tips for the day

• Bring photo ID, because the tutor checks who each delegate is.
• If you're joining online, use a laptop or desktop with a webcam, not a phone.
• Ask questions. The course is designed for people new to site, and the tutor expects them.
• Book your HS&E test soon after, while the material is fresh.

Where to take it

The one-day CITB Health and Safety Awareness course runs in the classroom at our Rotherham venue at Bradmarsh Business Park, about 1.2 miles from Rotherham Central station, and live online with a tutor. Employers taking on several new starters can book it in-house. If you're coming from Sheffield, our page on health and safety courses in Sheffield explains the tram-train and road routes to the venue.