The National Construction College (NCC) is urging scaffold inspectors who qualified before May 2007 to retrain or risk losing their right to inspect, following new guidance from the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC), which includes the introduction of a new inspection course.

Under the new guidance, which came out this summer, scaffold inspectors can no longer qualify based purely on their attendance record and must now receive a pass mark before they can legally inspect scaffold and apply for an inspection card. This means that hundreds of inspectors will now need to retrain to obtain the new carded qualification before working as an inspector.

The new qualification aims to raise standards within the industry by providing a uniform approach to qualifying scaffold inspectors, therefore ensuring the safety of the workforce. It has been welcomed by the industry, which has the highest proportion of reported injuries caused by falls from a height, which account for 17% of accidents compared with 8% in other industries (Health and Safety Executive).

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National Construction College Access Manager, Allen Robertson, said: "Each year construction workers are injured by trips, slips and falls, with a proportion of these taking place when working with scaffold. That’s why it’s essential that the industry has fully trained inspectors to ensure scaffolding is safe and sturdy and meets industry standards.

"The new Scaffold Inspection Training Scheme will provide the industry with a scheme that has both the quality and the rigour to provide competent scaffold inspectors. It will help to improve safety whilst reducing the business costs incurred during repair and maintenance and lost man hours at a time when being cost effective is essential. We encourage scaffold inspectors to act now and book onto one of our courses to ensure they obtain the new required qualification to inspect."

Delegates at the courses will be required to have some awareness and experience of scaffold structures prior to enrolling. Each course will host a maximum of 12 people to ensure full attention from instructors, helping to further improve industry standards, and will cover topics such as regulations and approved Codes of Practice, tubes, boards and fittings, scaffolding terminology, practical inspection and reports.

The new course must be delivered at a Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme (CISRS) approved centre, such as the National Construction College, which is the largest construction training provider in Europe. The College’sCISRS approved instructors will be delivering the course at four of its seven campuses, including NCC Scotland in Renfrewshire, NCC Midlands in Birmingham, NCC East in Norfolk and NCC South in Kent, in addition to at a range of regional locations.

The College offers a wide range of scaffolding and access courses for workers throughout their careers, including Scaffolding Part 1 and 2, Scaffold Safety Inspection, Experienced Worker Practical Assessment and NVQ Level 2 and 3 Practical Assessment.