Construction union UCATT are warning workers not to be duped into paying over the odds for a CSCS card or a CITB Health, Safety and Environment Test.

The Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) cards are a mandatory requirement for construction workers to work on most construction sites. In order to receive a card workers must have first passed the health and safety test.

UCATT's warning is a result of serious concerns raised by CSCS about third party agencies, who charge workers significantly above the standard fees.

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Steve Murphy, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "The CSCS card is the single most important method in ensuring that construction workers have the correct skills and they make sites safer. For a third party to be profiting from this scheme in an underhand manner is reprehensible."

The normal cost of a CSCS card is £30 and the health and safety test costs £17.50. In one case a third party agency has been charging an additional £25.50 just for the test.

It is understood that workers searching for information for CSCS cards can inadvertently follow electronic links, directly to the internet site of third party agencies.

(CD)