6 Reasons Why White Card Training is Essential for Construction

Construction industry White Card training is essential for anyone who regularly enters a building site in NSW, but have you ever wondered why you actually need the training? This blog unpacks the 6 essential safety skills you’ll learn during the course to stay safe while at work.

REMEMBER: the skills you learn during the training are an introduction only and once you start working in the industry, you’ll receive hands-on training specific to your actual job role and job site requirements.

1. Recognising hazards

Construction is a high-risk industry and to safely carry out your work you need to understand the different hazards you’ll encounter on a daily basis.

Your course instructor is a qualified trainer and has extensive experience working on construction sites. He or she will teach you how to recognise the hazards associated with:

• Electricity including overhead powerlines, power tools and underground cables.
• Excavating, trench work, and tunnelling.
• Manual handling (lifting, carrying, digging, etc).
• Falling objects.
• Chemicals, substances, and Dangerous Goods.
• Noise and hearing protection.
• Working at heights.
• Onsite vehicular traffic and mobile plant.
• Dust and asbestos.
• Working in the sun.

Part of your assessment will be to identify a range of onsite hazards and then explain how the risk could be eliminated or removed. A skill you can use from the moment you start working.

2. Emergency responses

The White Card training course also deals with a range of emergency situations and provides preliminary response training. These include:

• Chemical spills.
• Gas or vapour release.
• Vehicle accident.
• Fire emergency.

No off-site training could ever hope to replicate an actual emergency, but your White Card course will complement the emergency response training you will receive when you start working.

3. Incident and injury reporting

When working on a construction site you are required by law to report hazards, injuries, incidents, and near misses. A near miss is a dangerous incident that narrowly avoides serious injury or property damage.

White Card training teaches you the different ways to report incidents and hazards as well as the appropriate managers, supervisors and WHS personnel who will process the report.

4. Fire-fighting skills

You definitely won’t graduate as a fire fighter from your White Card course, but you will know how to identify and correctly use a range of standard fire-fighting equipment. This includes:

• Fire extinguishers (water, powder, foam, CO2).
• Fire blankets.
• Fire Hose reels.

5. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Construction workers, including site managers, surveyors and labourers need to wear and use protective equipment and clothing.

Your White Card course will introduce you to the footwear, UV protection, eyewear, harnesses, respiratory protection, and other PPE common to NSW construction sites. You’ll also have the chance to wear and practice correctly using:

• Eye protection.
• Hearing protection.
• Hard hat.
• High visibility retro reflective vest.

6. Documents and signage

Finally, the course will teach you how to read and follow construction industry documents and signage. This might seem like overkill, but your life will often depend on your ability to identify and immediately respond to:

• Fire signs (location of fire alarms, exits, and fire-fighting equipment).
• Hazard and warning signs (chemicals, Dangerous Goods, restricted access, high voltage areas).
• Safety and lockout tags (when machinery and equipment is faulty or out-of-service).
• Chemical Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) (understanding the risks and hazards of onsite substances).
• Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) (carrying out jobs and routine tasks according to site safety procedures).

Need NSW construction induction training?

Browse our latest White Card training dates and book your place online. We run courses every single week from our sophisticated training centre in Parramatta, NSW and our instructors are qualified trainers as well as construction industry professionals. Get your White Card today.