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Ensuring a safe and compliant workplace begins with well‑structured training and robust safety practices. Our comprehensive suite of guidance is designed to support organisations in meeting their legal duties, protecting their workforce, and promoting a strong safety culture across every site.
Having access to suitable first-aid provision is a legal requirement, and is often the subject of supply chain PQQ or tendering enquiries. First-aiders need to be suitably trained. This section outlines what factors will determine the first-aid support you need, HSE advice, and point to preferential first-aid training rates from our partner the British Red Cross.
A ‘first-aid needs assessment’ can help you to decide what first aid provision and training you need. This should consider the circumstances of the workplace (at base and on-site), workforce and the hazards and risks. In assessing first-aid needs, consider:
You may also need to consider:
General and specific first aid guidance from the HSE to help you understand your first-aid training needs is at: www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/ and www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l74.pdf
Face Fit Testing ensures that operatives know how to select, fit and wear a properly-fitting face mask (or respirator), notably to protect them from exposure to harmful dusts and fibres. It may be required by law (notably the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and the COSHH Regulations 2002.
The actual protection afforded by tight-fitting face masks depends on achieving good contact between the wearer’s skin and the seal of the mask face piece. Poor fit will significantly reduce - or even remove the protection provided to the wearer. It can also lead to false confidence in the actual protection available.
ECA has partnered with RPA, who are Face Fit Testing specialists, and who are ‘Fit2Fit’ accredited providers. RPA offers preferential rates for ECA members for on-site Face Fit Testing, and staff training to allow in-company testing.
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Having competent staff in-company, and access to ECA's free competent health and safety advice - by either phone or email - is a great way for a contractor to achieve and show health and safety competence.
However, many ECA Members say they would also like ongoing on-site health and safety support from a competent external advisor. With this requirement in mind, ECA has arranged an exclusive and highly competitive ‘Health and Safety Competent Advisor Service’, run by our health and safety partner KeyOstas.
For more information on KeyOstas, please login and see below.
The ‘Health and Safety Competent Advisor Service’ provides ECA Members with the option of a specific ‘Health and Safety Competent Advisor’ at the highly competitive and preferential rate of at £850.00 (plus VAT) per year to ECA Members. This service, which is additional to ECA’s ongoing Member H&S support, includes a range of benefits such as essential document checks, an annual site visit/baseline compliance audit, and an annual report.
For more information, see the explanatory leaflet below or contact KeyOstas directly.
Contractors are often required to show that their operatives and supervisors are competent to use hazardous items of plant and equipment, including access equipment.
This section includes information on ECA preferred training partner Nationwide Access.
Work at height naturally requires access equipment, and advice and information is available from a number of organisations. Key organisations in this area include the:
Prefabricated Access Suppliers' & Manufacturers' Association (PASMA) Representing the interests of manufacturers, suppliers, specifiers and users, it provides the industry standard training scheme and publishes safety-related knowledge, information and guidance. Learn more >
Promotes the safe and effective use of powered access equipment through technical advice and information, influencing and interpreting legislation and standards, safety initiatives and training programmes. Members include manufacturers, rental companies, contractors and users. Find out more >
Nationwide Platforms are an ECA Preferred Training provider for Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs) throughout the UK. They offer a full range of IPAF and PASMA training.
The Build UK Training Standard relates to those working on site for Build UK member contractors.
In addition to requiring site workers to have an ECS card and any supplementary training to operate specific higher-hazard plant, equipment or even tools (e.g. PASMA, IPAF etc.), Build UK Contractor Members require general health and safety training to be undertaken by directors, managers and those working on-site, including sub-contractors. The requirement is:
The training should normally be refreshed every five years.
Contractors are advised that if they have to work on a Build UK contractor’s site the training standard is mandatory. They should therefore expect to have to present staff and operatives who have received health and safety training as outlined here.
In addition to CITB and other accepted courses, the ECA offers a one day course that is particularly suitable for building services contractors. This is recognised for operative training by Build UK.
For Directors one of the following courses should normally be undertaken:
For Managers one of the following courses should normally be undertaken:
Industry courses which have been mapped as equivalent to the above include:
For Supervisors one of the following courses should normally be undertaken:
Industry courses which have been mapped as equivalent to the above include:
For those going on-site who do not fall into any of the above categories (notably operatives) then one of the following courses should be undertaken:
Industry courses which have been mapped as equivalent to include:
Note: apprentices who are on industry recognised training programmes are excluded from this requirement, if they hold the relevant card carrying the CSCS logo (e.g. ECS card).
The ECA offers a 1 day H & S Awareness course', which is approved by Build UK to meet the requirement for operatives. This course is aimed at building services operatives in general (it is particularly useful, but not just, for electrical contractors).
The ECA Operative course has also secured a JIB exemption: passing the one day course above replaces the operative’s need to take an ECS health and safety assessment. However, this does not work the other way round – when Build UK contractors ask for operative training they will not accept an ECS card assessment result - on its own - as meeting that requirement”.
Please note:
Equivalent courses, or courses that exceed the courses listed below, may be accepted where the proposer of the course can demonstrate that their course has been properly mapped against the designated CITB Site Safety Plus course.
Even when mapped courses (such as the ECA Operative and New Entrant Health & Safety Awareness Course) are recognised by Build UK, all building services contractors should satisfy themselves in advance that relevant main contractors accept the course.
Courses for Directors (IOSH), Managers (SMSTS), Supervisors (SSSTS) and the ECA one day Operative course are available from the ECA’s H&S preferred training provider KeyOstas.
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Depending on a contractor’s activity, three main levels of site operative and manager information, instruction and training are required by law (the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012). These are:
Knowing how to deal properly with asbestos-related activity and events comes from sufficient training, on-the-job learning, and instruction.
Workers, supervisors (and if operationally involved, managers) must be able to recognise asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) and know what to do if they come across them, to protect themselves, their employees, and others.
It is important that the level of information, instruction and training reflects the work and the roles undertaken by each worker/supervisor. Training needs analysis (TNA) can help to identify what type of training is required, to ensure workers have the necessary skills and knowledge to avoid putting themselves or others at risk.
Further information on asbestos awareness and non-licensed training is also available from Environtec, ECA’s preferred asbestos training partner.
Examples of those who need asbestos training are shown below (there may be other occupations where asbestos may be disturbed):
Information, instruction and training for asbestos awareness is intended to give workers and supervisors the information they need to avoid work that may disturb asbestos during any normal work which could disturb the fabric of a building, or anything else that might contain asbestos. It will not prepare workers or sub-contractors to carry out work with asbestos-containing materials.
Information, instruction and training about asbestos awareness should cover the following topics:
Online learning (often referred to as e–learning) can be one way to provide asbestos awareness training. HSE recognises the use of e-learning as a viable delivery method, among others, for asbestos awareness training, provided it satisfies the requirements of r.10 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and the supporting Approved Code of Practice L143 'Managing and working with asbestos'.
If a worker is to carry out work that will disturb ACMs, further employee information, instruction and training is needed, in addition to asbestos awareness. This should take account of whether the work is non-licensed; notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW); or licensed work (beyond the scope of ECA information and advice) and it should be job-specific.
Workers who may need this level of information, instruction and training include those listed under asbestos awareness above and whose work will require them to disturb asbestos-containing materials, such as:
The information, instruction and training for non-licensable work with asbestos, including NNLW, should include the following:
Again, the information, instruction and training should reflect the work being done. Employers should also make sure that workers doing non-licensable work or NNLW have seen:
In addition, the following information should be given to workers, on request:
Important – Even this level of information, instruction and training is not sufficient for licensable work with asbestos (the ECA does not offer advice on carrying out licenced asbestos work, which is a specialist, often high hazard activity that is usually carried out by specialist asbestos contractors).
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