NPORS Excavator as a Crane Training (N100)

Yes. HSE are clear that an excavator used for lifting is subject to LOLER and to thorough examination, however occasional the lifting is. The frequency changes the planning, not whether the rules apply.

Industry guidance expects a boom lowering control device on the raising cylinders, hose burst check valves, a rated capacity indicator on machines over one tonne supplied since the end of 2009, a load chart in the cab and a lifting point or quick hitch hooking device marked with its rated capacity, along with a current thorough examination. We look at the machine before we train on it and tell you plainly if something is missing.

Two days where it is added to an existing excavator card, with four candidates allowed on one machine. An operator already doing the work can sit the shorter experienced worker route. NPORS also publish a longer standalone novice route for someone with no excavator card at all, and we will tell you which one applies.

No. It is the category that lets an excavator be used for lifting duties within its own capacity chart. A mobile crane, a crawler crane or a lorry loader are separate machines with separate NPORS categories and separate tests.

Not while operating. Attaching and steadying a load is the slinger's job and it needs someone trained for it, which is the N402. One person cannot be in the cab and under the load at the same time, and the guidance expects the slinger to be authorised for the work.

Every lift needs to be planned; how much of it is written down depends on the lift. Routine repeated lifts can be covered by a generic plan, while anything unusual or complex needs its own. Deciding which is which is the appointed person's job, which is why the N401 sits behind this category.

The N100 category on the operator's NPORS card. Without an NVQ that is a Red Trained Operator card; with the relevant plant operations NVQ it is a Blue Competent Operator card. Either carries the CSCS logo only while a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years is held.

Yes, and it is the sensible way to do it, because the training then uses your load chart, your hitch and your accessories. We need the machine to be in test and correctly equipped. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when your operators and the 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.