Migrant workers face English language safety test

Foreign workers wanting to work in the UK will have to pass an English language test on site safety before they can receive a Construction Skills Certification Scheme card.

The test could go live this September and will be taken alongside the existing tough-screen health and safety exam required to get a CSCS card, reported Construction News (CN). Under current regulations, migrants can get cards by taking the text in their native language.

ConstructionSkills is now talking with the Health & Safety Executive and Loughborough and Glasgow Caledonian universities to work out a way to deliver the exam, which might include picture cards or a book of phrases.

The move has been welcomed by some in the industry. Carillion senior site supervisor Lawrence Rickers told CN: 'People come with a CSCS card but can't fill in our application form ... If they can't fill in these forms how can I trust them to understand simple site instructions?'