More than 2,000 freelancers have now passed the CSCS health and safety test, thanks to the nationwide construction recruitment agency Hill McGlynn.
Many of the contract technical and skilled tradesmen on the agency’s books now have a health and safety qualification after Hill McGlynn offered to arrange and pay for them to take the Construction Skills Certificate Scheme test.
Freelancers from all over the UK flocked to take up the offer in time for the New Year deadline. From 1st January 2004 most major construction sites will refuse entry to all staff, including temps, who do not have the CSCS qualification or its equivalent.
Hill McGlynn’s offer to pay the £55 fee and organise the applications and test arrangements spurred many freelancers it had not previously dealt with into taking the deadline seriously.
"It’s vital that all staff have a health and safety clearance, and even more so for freelance or contract staff as they need to be available at a moments notice with the right qualifications for the job," said Nigel Price, Hill McGlynns Health and
Safety Manager."
Hill McGlynn this year became one of the UKs top three construction recruitment agencies, after merging with Leeds-based Team Up Workforce UK. The enlarged business, which has the capability to place anyone from a site labourer to a Managing Director,
is based in Southampton, with 13 offices in the North, Midlands and South of England.