Qatari government backs CISRS OSTS

CISRS have announced that the Qatari government has placed an insistence for CISRS-trained operatives in all its major construction project scaffolding tenders.

The procurement announcement was made by representatives from Ashghal, the department responsible for overseeing large-scale infrastructure, buildings and public utility developments across the country, during a visit to London.

Ashghal safety officials met with officials from CISRS and Simian Risk at the training provider’s scaffolding training centre in Waltham Forest, formerly operated by NCC.

Following a tour of the facility, CISRS Scheme Manager David Mosley gave a short presentation into the history of CISRS in the UK and the creation and ongoing expansion of the Overseas Scaffolders Training Scheme (OSTS).

The benefits of OSTS training – with increased labour skills leading to increases in safety standards and productivity – and the recent establishment of two CISRS OSTS centres in Qatar were then discussed.

David Mosley, CISRS Scheme Manager, said: “I welcome Ashghal’s announcement, which will encourage more scaffolders to undergo certified OSTS scaffolding training and lead to greater safety standards, improved knowledge and skill levels on sites throughout Qatar.

“It was great to hear that safety is such a key driver for Ashghal, as evidenced in their achievement of passing 100 million hours without Lost Time Injury for infrastructure (roads/drainage) projects. We were pleased to present them with a trophy and certificate in recognition of this milestone and listen to their plans to implement new policies and forge new partnerships to build on this.

“We are delighted that more and more overseas organisations are recognising the value of CISRS OSTS, which is now provided at 15 centres worldwide including facilities in Nepal, China, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.”

Ian Fyall, Partner at Simian Risk, said: “We were delighted to welcome Ashghal to our new training centre and explain how we’re delivering a variety of CISRS scaffolding courses at various locations in the UK as well as CISRS OSTS courses with local partners in Africa, India, China and the Middle East.”