NPORS Loader Compressor Training (N206)

A machine that combines a front loading bucket with an onboard air compressor, so the same unit can break material out with air tools, load it and backfill without towing a separate compressor. In layout it sits close to a loading shovel or a wheeled machine with a front bucket.

Three days for a novice, with three candidates to one instructor and one machine. An experienced operator sits a one day test focused route with up to six candidates, and the refresher also runs in a day. We confirm the length when we quote.

Working the machine's air equipment is part of the category. Where operatives spend their day on a handheld breaker rather than in the machine, the separate N048 Powered Handheld Breaker category is the one they need.

No. The N209 Loading Shovel and the N206 Loader Compressor are separate NPORS categories. The compressor and the air equipment are the difference, and the card has to match the machine being operated.

It is covered as awareness on the course: what causes it, what the symptoms are and how exposure is limited. Managing exposure, maintaining tools and arranging health surveillance where it is needed remains the employer's duty and sits outside the card.

The NPORS N206 category on an NPORS card. Without an NVQ that is a Red Trained Operator card; with the relevant NVQ it is a Blue Competent Operator card. Either carries the CSCS logo only while you hold a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years.

Yes. PUWER requires operators of work equipment to be adequately trained however often they use it, and most principal contractors want a card before a machine works on their site. If it is occasional, the shorter routes may well be the right ones.

Yes. Training on your machine and your tools means the controls, the couplings and the material are the ones your operators actually deal with. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when your people and your machine can be released.

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.