& 
NPORS Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cutting Training (N602)
This is the chainsaw ticket for maintenance and cross cutting: keeping the saw right, starting it safely, and cutting timber that is already on the ground. It is not a felling ticket and we will not pretend it is. Two days, run on request, on your own saws.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N602 Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cutting different
About this course
The NPORS N602 Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cutting category covers the two things every chainsaw user has to be able to do before anything else: keep the saw in a safe working condition, and cut timber that is already on the ground. It takes in the parts of the saw and their function, daily and periodic maintenance, chain sharpening and tensioning, refuelling and chain oil, starting procedures, and cross cutting timber under tension and compression without trapping the bar or being hit by the log.
The chainsaw is the most dangerous hand held machine in common use. It cuts at speed, it cuts everything, and the injuries are to the legs, the left arm and the face. Kickback, where the upper quadrant of the bar nose contacts something and the saw is thrown back along its own cutting line, happens faster than a person can react, which is why the chain brake, the grip and the stance matter more than reflexes. Trapping and pinching in tensioned timber accounts for the rest, along with the log that rolls once the cut releases it.
Two days does it in order. The machine and its safety devices, including the chain brake, chain catcher, throttle interlock and hand guards, and how to test that they work. Personal protective equipment that is designed for chainsaw use, not general site PPE. Fuel, chain oil and safe refuelling. Maintenance and sharpening, which is where most of the improvement in safety actually comes from. Starting, cold and warm, on the ground and drop starting where it is appropriate. Then cross cutting: reading tension and compression in the timber, choosing the cut, stacking and handling, and a minimum of five assessed cuts per candidate.
- The saw and the protective equipment: bar, chain, sprocket, chain brake, chain catcher, throttle interlock, hand guards and anti vibration mounts, testing that the safety devices work, and chainsaw rated helmet with visor and hearing protection, leg protection, gloves and boots
- Maintenance: chain sharpening and depth gauges, tension, bar wear and dressing, air filter, spark plug, chain oil delivery and the routine that keeps a saw safe
- Fuel and oil: two stroke mixing, safe refuelling, spill control and where the saw may and may not be started
- Kickback: what causes it, the kickback zone of the bar, how the chain brake helps and the grip and stance that keep you out of the line of the bar
- Cross cutting: reading tension and compression, choosing and sequencing the cut, avoiding a pinched bar, log movement and safe stacking
- Duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and PUWER 1998, noise and hand arm vibration, and the limits of this category
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N602 Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cutting category, registered with NPORS and recognised nationally
- An NPORS Red Trained Operator card, or a Blue Competent Operator card where you hold the relevant NVQ, carrying the CSCS logo while your CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is in date, or a traditional NPORS card where the work is not construction
- Operators who sharpen and tension a chain properly, because a sharp saw is a safer saw
- A clear and honest record of what your people are trained for, which is cross cutting on the ground and not felling
Who should attend?
Grounds maintenance and landscaping teams, estates, farms and countryside staff, local authority parks and highways crews, utility and rail vegetation teams, construction and civils site staff clearing timber, and emergency and flood response teams who need to clear a fallen tree from a road. It suits anybody whose job occasionally requires a saw, as well as crews using one daily. Anyone who will be felling standing trees, dismantling from a rope or working at height with a saw needs training beyond this category, and we will tell you so.
Entry requirements. You should be at least eighteen, physically fit enough to handle a running saw and to lift and move timber, and able to follow spoken and written English well enough for the theory test, though an interpreter or a reader can be arranged on request. No prior card is required. You will need chainsaw rated personal protective equipment, which candidates normally provide themselves: helmet with visor and hearing protection, chainsaw leg protection, gloves and suitable boots. Tell us at enquiry whether your saws are petrol, battery or top handle. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass at Operatives level taken within the last two years, which we book for you.
Ready to take the next step?
Choose a delivery option, compare dates and book with confidence, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the saw, its safety devices, kickback and the duties, then maintenance and sharpening, then cross cutting timber with at least five assessed cuts per candidate.
The saw, the timber and the duties
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and PUWER 1998 as they apply to chainsaw use, and employer and employee responsibilities
- Saw components and safety devices, including the chain brake, chain catcher, throttle interlock and hand guards
- Chainsaw specific personal protective equipment and how to inspect it
- Fuel and chain oil, two stroke mixing, safe refuelling and spill control
- Maintenance and sharpening: chain, depth gauges, tension, bar, sprocket, filters and lubrication
- Kickback: causes, the kickback quadrant, the chain brake, grip and stance
- Tension and compression in timber, cut selection and the sequence that avoids a trapped bar
- Noise, hand arm vibration, manual handling of timber and the limits of the category
On the saw
- Pre use inspection of the saw and of the personal protective equipment
- Testing the chain brake and the other safety devices, and taking a faulty saw out of use
- Sharpening a chain, setting depth gauges and adjusting chain tension
- Refuelling and adding chain oil safely, away from the cutting area
- Starting the saw cold and warm, safely and under control
- Cross cutting timber, a minimum of five cuts per candidate, reading tension and compression
- Handling, moving and stacking timber, and leaving the work area and the saw safe
Method of assessment
How the N602 chainsaw maintenance and cross cutting test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical test. The practical covers maintenance and sharpening as well as cutting, and each candidate makes a minimum of five cross cuts.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many people, where, and what saws they use. Four sit the course with one instructor and one machine. We will also ask what your crews actually do with a saw, so we can be clear about what this category does and does not cover. We quote per group.
2. Pre course check
We confirm nobody is expecting a felling ticket, check that candidates have chainsaw rated PPE or arrange it, agree whether you need the CSCS logo version of the card or the traditional NPORS card, check the CITB test where it applies, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the saw, kickback and the duties, then maintenance and sharpening, then cross cutting. On your own site we use your saws and your timber.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test, open questions and multiple choice, covering legislation, saw components and safety devices, PPE, fuel, maintenance, kickback and cutting technique.
5. Practical test
You inspect the saw and your PPE, sharpen and tension the chain, start safely and carry out a minimum of five cross cuts in timber under tension and compression, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and apply for your card, with the CSCS logo where you hold a current CITB test, or as a traditional NPORS card for grounds and estate work.
After the course
What this ticket is not
This is the paragraph that matters. N602 records competence in maintaining a chainsaw and cross cutting timber that is already on the ground. It does not cover felling a standing tree of any size, it does not cover takedown or dismantling, and it does not cover working with a saw from a rope, a platform or a ladder. Those are different disciplines with different training, and we would rather lose the booking than let somebody go up a tree on the strength of this card. If felling is what your work needs, tell us and we will point you at the right route rather than sell you this one.
What it does do, and does well, is make the people who occasionally pick up a saw much safer. Estate staff clearing a fallen branch, highways crews cutting up a tree that came down in a storm, site teams cutting timber to length. Those people are often self taught, usually with a blunt chain, and they are the ones the injury figures are built from.
- N603 Wood Chipper Shredder for the machine that takes the brash away
- N606 Stump Grinder where the same crew finishes the job after felling
- N605 Strimmer and Brush Cutter for the rest of the vegetation work
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us where the work is on construction or highways sites
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N602 Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cutting FAQs
No. It covers chainsaw maintenance and cross cutting timber that is already on the ground. Felling standing trees, dismantling and any work with a saw off the ground are separate disciplines with separate training, and this card does not cover them. We say so plainly rather than let a card be used for work it was never meant for.
NPORS publish a two day novice duration, with four candidates, one instructor and one machine. A refresher for somebody already holding the category is normally a day. We confirm the length when we quote, because it follows who is on the course.
Not on the NPORS test sheet we work from. The routes recorded for N602 are the novice course and the refresher, each with a maximum of four tests, and no experienced worker figure. If that changes we will tell you at enquiry rather than take a booking for a route that does not exist.
Candidates normally provide their own chainsaw rated personal protective equipment: helmet with visor and hearing protection, chainsaw leg protection, gloves and suitable boots. General site PPE is not enough for chainsaw work. Tell us at enquiry if you need us to arrange it.
Because a blunt chain is a dangerous chain. A saw that will not cut gets forced, and a forced saw grabs, kicks and wanders. Most of the practical improvement in chainsaw safety across a team comes from people who can sharpen properly and who tension the chain correctly before they start.
Yes, and it is better. Petrol, battery and top handle machines all start and behave differently, and your crew should be learning on the saw that is in their van. We can bring saws and timber if you have nowhere suitable.
For construction and most highways work, the CSCS logo version, which requires a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass within the last two years. For estate, farm and private grounds work the traditional NPORS card is usually the sensible choice.
Each candidate makes a minimum of five cross cuts, in timber that puts the bar under tension and compression, so the assessment is about reading the wood as well as handling the saw. We make sure there is enough suitable timber on site before the day.
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.
From the blog
Course guides and news
The latest plain-English guides to choosing the right course, card or qualification.
Training for a team?
One contact for all your workforce training
Book this course for a group at your site or ours, roll it into a managed training plan and let us handle the scheduling, certificates and renewals.