The Highways England Passport Scheme
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The Highways England Passport Scheme is an initiative that is has been launched by Highways England. The scheme is a momentous step on the road towards the vision ‘One Industry One Card’.
Highways England are leading the charge towards this vision. A Smart Card will be have to be held by all of the supply chain and employees who attend Highways England sites.
The scheme aims to make work ‘Safer Smarter and Simpler’. There are over 50,000 industry people who need to hold the card and complete the ‘Common Induction Training’ training by April 2019.
Why?
Across the Highways England network there can be hundreds of active projects at one time. These projects are delivered by a very large workforce comprised of many different suppliers and partners. So, it is crucial that this workforce stays safe whilst working on these projects.
There are currently a large number of active ‘Highways England Motorway Pass’ cardholders and an estimated 50,000 workers in the strategic road network. The Passport Scheme will integrate both groups and align the process.
The passport will be the admittance card to any Strategic Road Network sites and there are many benefits to the new card being introduced. Some of the main benefits are;
- The reduction of site registration times using smart phone technology.
- Quick and effective and accurate verification of people accessing the sites credentials ensuring that they are authorised to do so.
- The technology provides an accurate register of the personnel and also the skills that are on site at all times.
- The improved management of risks associated with fatigue.
- Organisations such as Network Rail will be aligned with the scheme allowing information to be shared when required.
The Highways England Passport Scheme is headed up by Simon Jones who states:
“Our smartcard and common training will help road workers maintain their basic statutory health, safety, environment and also wellbeing requirements. It also provides a great opportunity to work collaboratively with the supply chain to improve standards across the Highways industry.”
“I believe modernising the process which enables workers access to our network is the right thing to do. It will improve how we work; it will allow us to report in real time and above all shows our commitment to safety, our workforce, their families and our customers.”
“For our workers, the scheme means that they won’t have to repeat all elements of safety induction if they move between sites. However, the common induction does not replace site specific inductions applicable to schemes on the strategic road network.”
How?
We (Fencing and Construction Training) are one of the first approved providers of the Highways England Passport Scheme ‘Common Induction Course’. We can provide training at your venue, a venue near you or one of our centres.
Upon completion of this one day course a record will be stored on the candidates smart card. The course and card are requirements for anyone who will be entering a Highways England Site.
We realise that with over 50,000 people to be trained you will want to book the course early so you can beat the rush and be qualified before the deadline of April 2019.
If you need any advice or have any questions please give us a call or an email and we’ll help you out.
Get in touch for more details!
Or call us on 0121 476 4731
Read our course page here.
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