Tickets

[Smiffy]

Im looking for a bit of advice

Im currently working for a company that does groundworks agricultural contracting and tree surgery
Im driving a 360 a couple of times a week loading lorrys and muckspreaders on tree surgery work or putting them on lorrys but i would not call myself an operator or experienced by any means but im more than capable of carrying these tasks out safely and efficiently
The company im working for arnt worried about tickets but with a lot of pestering will put people through an inhouse ticket
I dont think this is a forever job so was wondering whether ut is worth pestering for the inhouse one or mindful of future employees i would be better of looking at putting myself through a proper ticket
I dont ever wish to work on large construction projects or building sites i like doing the farm and tree work side of things so with this in mind would if it would be a good idea to take external tickets is it worth looking at cpcs or npors
I can find details of price and courses for cpcs but very little about npors
The final question is with the experience ive got would i be looking at a begginers course or the intermediate course as i know speaking to training providers they will push you to the more expensive option most the time regardless

Thanks in advance

 

[doobin]

The final question is with the experience ive got would i be looking at a begginers course or the intermediate course as i know speaking to training providers they will push you to the more expensive option most the time regardless

Thanks in advance

Which is why it's nothing but a f****ng racket.
Most farm and tree people won't care about tickets, so neither should you if this is the work you wish to pursue. Don't feed the parasites.

 

[Mogman]

The thing is it isn’t a leagal requirement, it’s all about safety
What gets me is I took a drivers test (to drive a car) and passed job done now until I get disqualified, but you get a ‘plant license’ and you have to renew/refresh every few years, just a load off bullocks
I’ve let my ‘Plant licence’ laps as can’t be arsed with shame, been in the plant game well over 30 years only work on my own projects some quite big but because I’m the main contractor I decide who drives the machines, with a ‘licence’ or not, I can tell within a few minutes if people are safe and any good on plant

 

[Antony Holmes]

The whole tickets thing is a money making scam

When it was brought is we were told it would increase our value. (higher pay, better conditions ect) and as professional drivers things would be better.
In 1984 as a trainee I was earning £1.25 per hour and skilled excavator operator was earning £5.00 per hour 4x what I was earning, he wold get a van and fule to get to the yard, greasing time 1 hr per day, travel time both ways , daily bonus depended on the job and all was well with the world.
To get a job an interview was probably on site to see if you could actually drive whatever the plant was.

Fast forward to 2018

The trainee is earning minimum wage £8.00 I think so if 4 x that =£32.00 per hour not
No greasing time
No travel time
As for vans some firms up here are giving you a van but we will have to lower the rate
At what point did tickets help us
Ether have a ticket system where all have to have a ticket like an hgv licence or none
lets not have a 3 tear system (cpcs, npors, no ticket but its all ok it’s ower own job )with endless changing of standards and rising of costs
can we not have 1 system 1 set of rules and clear cost structure so we know where we are?

That’s it rant over

 

[Hydremaduck]

If you have no intention or desire to work on national house building sites, major construction contracts or a desire to tip lots of money down a drain in order to gain a worthless piece of plastic, stay as you are.

A "ticket" is not a legal requirement. The only legal requirement is to be competent to conduct the task in hand. The MCG ( Major Contractors Group) eg major contractors, decided in their infinite wisdom ( old boys greasy palms, funny handshake crowd) that CPCS would be the "card" of choice, without which you couldn't get onto one of their sites as this would be proof of ones training and competence, all in the name of "safety".

Many experienced plant operators were lads who enjoyed out door life rather than a factory job and without being anyway disrespectful to any of them, many were lads who didn't find school easy.
Once paperwork and form filling became a "condition" of you being able to renew your "ticket" many of those lads opted out rather than admit they lacked the skills to fill in the paperwork. Yes, simply, many could not read or write and walked away from the industry.

Others saw a way out of the seat and into "training" or assessing.

Fast forward a good few years

We now have an operator shortage, (along with a shortage of truck drivers and many other forms of skilled labour due to some bright spark deciding the the UK should become a service industry provider) along with a whole new industry of " training providers", many of whom have seen a way to make lots of money very easily by providing "tickets"

We now have a situation with many holding "tickets" but having no experience, while claiming to warrant stupid amounts of money on an hourly rate to beat shite out of and abuse any bit of equipment one is stupid enough to let them loose on.

In some places, the industry is finally waking up to the reality that a ticket guarantees nothing and that experience can be checked by other methods, eg references and a trial in the seat.

What I am trying to explain is that your experience and having someone that can give you a reference will give you as much chance of finding work and keeping it than a ticket that has cost you a lot of money and hassle ever will.

Stay as you are is my advise and use your existing contacts to broaden your options.

 

[Brendan]

Their in-house one might not be worth anything if it's not npors or cpcs unfortunately it probably won't transfer over to anywhere.
It use to be possible to get an assessor out and do the practical side of it on site then just do the paper tests but now all these trainers see the whole thing as a massive cash cow so all want silly money

 

[Smiffy]

Thanks i didn't think of it that way
Im just cautious as want to move out the area in 1 or 2 years time so the contact base will disappear so adding as many strings to my bow so i can to make finding work as easy as possible in the future wherever i end up

 

[Brendan]

Thanks i didn't think of it that way
Im just cautious as want to move out the area in 1 or 2 years time so the contact base will disappear so adding as many strings to my bow so i can to make finding work as easy as possible in the future wherever i end up

Might be worthwhile ringing around for an onsite assessor or if you don't have any nvq's contact a local plant college as you should be able to get one for free. It would be a case of just choosing what ticket you would prefer to have

 

[V8Druid]

well here comes yet another 'tier' of ticket robbery ........

https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/licensed-to-lift

 

[Stock]

well here comes yet another 'tier' of ticket robbery ........

https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/licensed-to-lift

No read the article is a stand alone optional standard .................. but with Brexit and the lack of visa it won't trouble the UK workforce..........................................................

 

[V8Druid]

well here comes yet another 'tier' of ticket robbery ........

https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/licensed-to-lift

No read the article is a stand alone optional standard .................. but with Brexit and the lack of visa it won't trouble the UK workforce..........................................................

I did read it - top to bottom and that's the intended purpose Stock ........ but, you know what this country's like ..... it'll be yet another requirement before you can shake a stick

as a Europe wide standard of competence and training level, the idea is fine