What is SEATS? CITB's environmental course for site supervisors

Most site safety training is about keeping people from harm. SEATS is about the harm a site can do to everything around it: rivers and drains, neighbours, wildlife, heritage and the ground itself. It's a one-day CITB course, and more contractors are asking supervisors to hold it.

What SEATS stands for

SEATS is the Site Environmental Awareness Training Scheme. It's part of CITB's Site Safety Plus suite, alongside SSSTS, SMSTS and the temporary works courses, and it's delivered under the same CITB scheme rules.

Who it's for

CITB designs SEATS for people who have, or are about to take on, supervisory responsibilities: site supervisors, foremen, team leaders and site managers. There are no formal entry requirements, but because it's pitched at supervisor level, CITB asks training providers to bear that in mind when booking delegates. You'll need English good enough to take part at supervisor level.

It suits:

• supervisors and managers on sites with watercourses, sensitive neighbours or contaminated ground
• subcontractor supervisors who need to show a principal contractor they understand environmental controls
• anyone responsible for waste, spill kits or environmental checks on site

What SEATS covers

CITB's aims for the course are to help supervisors:

• supervise and protect the environment within the law
• protect ecosystems: the plants, animals and organisms around a site
• follow environmental management systems and processes to reduce damage
• reduce statutory nuisance and disturbance to neighbours, such as noise, dust and light
• manage the impact archaeology and heritage can have on construction
• control water use and reduce the effect on natural water supplies
• prevent pollution of watercourses
• check that timber coming onto site is ethically sourced, through chain of custody
• identify, control and manage contamination on brownfield sites
• classify, segregate and dispose of waste properly

It's practical rather than technical. You won't come out as an environmental consultant, but you'll know what good looks like on site, what the warning signs are, and when to stop and get advice.

How it's assessed

SEATS ends with a 30-minute exam of 25 questions: 22 multiple choice and three multiple response. The pass mark is 80%. Attend the whole day and pass the exam, and CITB issues your certificate.

How long the certificate lasts

The SEATS certificate is valid for five years, in line with the other Site Safety Plus certificates. Make a note of the expiry date when you receive it, and check with us before it runs out so you know your renewal route.

Why contractors ask for it

No law says a supervisor must hold SEATS. But environmental law applies to every site, and pollution incidents, nuisance complaints and waste offences can lead to enforcement, fines and delays. CITB describes SEATS as delivering the basic environmental knowledge subcontractors need to show to major contractors, which is why it increasingly appears in pre-qualification questionnaires and site rules alongside SSSTS.

It's particularly relevant on brownfield land, where contamination and drainage are everyday concerns. A lot of development in South Yorkshire happens on former industrial and colliery land, from the Waverley development at Rotherham, built on a reclaimed opencast site, to employment sites on former colliery land along the M1 corridor at Barnsley. Supervisors on jobs like these deal with the topics SEATS covers every week.

The environmental issues supervisors deal with most

Waste

Every business that produces waste has a legal duty of care for it: storing it safely, passing it only to someone authorised to take it, and keeping the paperwork. On site that comes down to segregated skips, checked waste carriers and transfer notes filed where you can find them.

Water and drains

Silty water pumped from an excavation, concrete washout or a fuel spill can reach a drain or watercourse in minutes. Knowing which drains lead where, keeping spill kits stocked and planning washout areas prevents most incidents.

Neighbours

Noise, dust, vibration and site lighting are the usual causes of complaints. On some jobs, working hours and noise limits are agreed with the local council in advance, and supervisors are the people who keep the site within them.

SEATS, SSSTS or both?

They're different courses with little overlap. SSSTS is two days of health and safety training for supervisors; SEATS is one day on the environment. SSSTS touches on environmental awareness, but SEATS goes much further. Many supervisors hold both, and because they share the same five-year cycle, it's easy to plan renewals together.

Site managers can take SEATS too. SMSTS covers environmental responsibilities from a manager's point of view, and SEATS adds the practical detail supervisors work with day to day. If you're not sure where SSSTS ends and SMSTS begins, see SMSTS or SSSTS: which course do you need?

What to expect on the day

• A full day with a tutor, either in a classroom or live online.
• Discussion of real site situations: a diesel spill near a drain, a complaint about dust, an unexpected find during excavation, contaminated soil.
• Short exercises and the exam at the end of the day.

Bring examples from your own sites. The best sessions are the ones where delegates share what has actually gone wrong and how it was handled.

Where to take it

The one-day CITB SEATS course runs in the classroom at our Rotherham venue at Bradmarsh Business Park, off the A6178 and about 1.5 miles from Rotherham town centre, and live online with a tutor. For a group of supervisors, we can run it in-house. Our page on health and safety courses in Barnsley sets out the route and the next local dates for teams working along the M1.