NPORS Plant and Machinery Marshal Training (N133)

NPORS's own scheme of works sets minimum hours rather than a simple number of days: ten hours for one learner and fourteen hours for two on the novice route, and seven hours for one or two candidates and fourteen for three or four on the experienced worker route. NPORS work a seven hour day, so the novice route runs over one to two days depending on the size of the group. We apply those minimums rather than compressing the course.

Three on the novice course and three on a refresher, with one instructor and one machine. NPORS allow six on the experienced worker test, which is the efficient route for people who have been marshalling for years and simply need the category recorded.

Banksman is the older name for much of this work and people still use it. NPORS run this category as Plant and Machinery Marshal, and they run a separate Vehicle Marshal category, N403, which focuses on lorries and deliveries. Tell us what your people actually direct and we will confirm which category fits.

They should, and the course is built on it. A marshal who cannot stop a machine, or who gets criticised for doing it, is not performing a safety function. We would encourage supervisors to make that authority explicit in front of the operators, because that is what makes the training work.

The recognised hand signals used for directing plant, including the emergency stop, together with radio protocols where radios are used. The important part is that the operator and the marshal agree the signals before the machine moves, and that the marshal stays where the operator can see them.

Yes, and it makes a real difference. Your gates, your haul routes, your pedestrian crossings and your awkward corner are the places your marshals will be working, and using them for the practical is worth far more than a clear yard somewhere else.

Yes. Cameras, mirrors and detection systems help, but they have limits, they get dirty, and they do not make a decision. They reduce the risk, they do not remove the need for someone directing the movement where a movement needs directing.

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.