NPORS Abrasive Wheels Training (N301)

N301 is the general abrasive wheels category, aimed at angle grinders, bench and pedestal grinders and wheel changing. N017 is Abrasive Wheels Hand Held Cut Off Saw, which covers the petrol driven disc saw used on kerbs, slabs, paving and steel. The theory overlaps but the machines are different and they are assessed separately. Crews that use both need both.

No. The Abrasive Wheels Regulations 1970 were repealed and the duties now sit within the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, with HSE guidance in HSG17. Regulation 9 of PUWER requires adequate training for anybody using work equipment, which is where the training duty for abrasive wheels comes from.

The NPORS test sheet we work from gives a half day novice duration with six candidates and one instructor. Because it is half a day, two groups can often be run in one visit, which is how most employers card a whole workforce efficiently. We confirm the arrangement when we quote.

Not on the NPORS test sheet we work from. N301 shows a novice course and a refresher, each with a maximum of six tests, and no experienced worker figure.

Yes, and that is the most important part. Selecting the right wheel, checking its maximum operating speed against the machine, inspecting it, and mounting it with the correct flanges and blotters. Most abrasive wheel failures are set up before the machine is ever switched on.

A check for cracks in certain bonded wheels, carried out by suspending the wheel and tapping it lightly to listen for a clear ring rather than a dull note. The course covers how to do it and, just as importantly, which wheels it applies to, because it is not a universal test.

Usually yes. Six candidates per group and half a day each means a morning group and an afternoon group is a normal arrangement, and it keeps most of your workforce on the job for most of the day.

An NPORS Red Trained Operator card, or a Blue Competent Operator card where the holder has the relevant NVQ. Either carries the CSCS logo while a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass is in date.

NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.

We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.

There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.