A Complete Guideline about Safe Pass Course Objectives

Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013, all construction workers in Ireland — including apprentices and trainees — are legally bound to hold a valid Safe Pass Registration Card. The card is awarded to individuals who have undergone the Health and Safety Training course, as is operated and managed by SOLAS, which is the State Agency in Ireland, responsible for establishing the Further Education and Training (FET) sector in the country.

The core objectives of the course are to raise awareness of health and safety in Construction Workers, providing them with key guidelines and knowledge about on-site work, and the necessary steps on preventing danger, maintaining the safety of oneself, and those of other workers.

Course Guidelines For Formative Learning

The course is conducted for one day, that uses formative learning practices, case studies, peer-to-peer group discussions. Eventually, there are Summative Assessments wherein the participants would have to take a test and answer about 20 questions correctly in order to get the registration card. There is no grades system in this — you are either passed or failed. If you fail, you can try again.

Which Construction Workers and What Sectors in the Construction Industry Need to Take a Safe Pass Course?

So here is the much-talked-about question — WHO NEEDS A Safe Pass Card?

Usually, we think that the Construction Workers are those who make buildings. But the domain is bigger than that, which is segregated into the following:

● Residential — which includes regular houses, home renovation, installation of new technology like Residential Solar Panels etc.

● Civil & Engineering projects — building the city with roads, bridges, dams etc. as well as applications for underground workers who work in the pipelines, drainage systems etc.

● Commercial — office buildings, shopping malls, adding rain screens and commercial building facades etc.

● Industrial — this is a more diverse sector that includes crucial components like Energy installations, chemical processing units, mills and manufacturing units.

All onsite workers need to carry a Safe Pass card — of course, the General Construction Workers, Craft Workers and Onsite Drivers are entitled, but apart from that, students of placements, apprentices as well as temporary staff need to have it too. The minimum age limit for enrolling participants is 16years.

What Is The Process Of SafePass Training And How To Appoint A Third-Party Health and Safety Consultant

The training is conducted by SOLAS and paid for by employers. But if you are an independent construction worker then you should enrol yourself and also renew your card every 4years.

The Safety, Health & Welfare Act, 2005 mandates construction companies and contractors to have their entire entourage of on-site workers have the appropriate and timely safe pass training and always carry valid cards with timely renewals. Moreover, employers have to consider the training day a full day of paid leave for all their participating staff.

Employers have to take responsibility for enrolling their staff on the training program. But if they are not quite sure how or where to start, or have the time to manage the whole process on their own, they can get in touch with third party training consultants of the safe pass in Dublin, Cork or Galway. The business service providers help employers organise the whole enrolment process and other requisites more holistically and without any wastage of time.