A number of fraudulent Certification of Competence of Demolition Operatives (CCDO) cards have been discovered at a printing company in England, it is said.
While there is currently no evidence yet that the cards are being used on site, the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) has issued a warning to members to be extra stringent with their on-site checks.
NFDC chief executive Howard Button said: 鈥淭he NFDC were recently asked to verify the authenticity of a number of cards, which were later discovered to be counterfeit. Managers need to be extra careful checking the details of operators at induction, and ongoing spot checks are highly recommended.鈥�
He added: 鈥淭he problem of fake cards is easily overcome by the use of the CCDO smart card scheme, which with a single scan can verify the validity of the operator鈥檚 qualifications. All cards issued from January 2017 can be immediately verified on site using the Go Smart card reading system by site managers. In addition, the NFDC and its training company the National Demolition Training Group has now launched the first 鈥榁irtual鈥� Card, whereby the operator鈥檚 details are stored on an app, which is checked in much the same way, but it negates the need for a physical card. This effectively puts the fraudsters out of business.鈥�
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