NPORS Puller Winch Training (N033)

A hand operated wire rope pulling machine. Jaws grip the rope and feed it through the body of the machine, so there is no drum and the rope can be as long as the job needs. They are used for pulling, tensioning and lifting where a crane is not available or not appropriate, and they are common in utilities, cable pulling, forestry, recovery and rigging.

One day for every route. The novice course teaches and tests in the day, the experienced worker route is test focused, and the refresher covers updates then the tests. The difference is how much teaching there is, not how long you are with us.

NPORS allow four candidates with one instructor and one machine on the novice course and the refresher. The experienced worker test allows six, which is usually the better route for a crew already doing the work.

Yes. It is a test focused day rather than a taught course, and it assumes you are already operating a puller winch regularly. Some providers ask for a few months of practical experience before that route. Tell us how often you use the machine and we will put you on the right one.

It is the overload protection. It is designed to fail before the machine or the rope does, which is what stops an overloaded pull turning into a rope failure. It is replaced only with the correct pin from the manufacturer, never with a bolt or a nail, and that is covered properly on the day.

When it shows the defects the manufacturer and the standard say it should not have: broken wires beyond the permitted number, kinks, birdcaging, crushing, severe corrosion or damage at the terminations. A good part of the day is spent handling ropes so you know what those look like in the hand rather than in a book.

The NPORS N033 category. 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. A traditional NPORS card without the logo suits work outside construction.

Yes, and for this category it is worth doing. The practical then happens on your machines, your rope and your anchor points, which means we also see the state of your kit and can tell you what should be taken out of service. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when it suits your work.

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.