NPORS Hand Held Hedge Trimmer Training (N610)

NPORS publish a two day novice duration, with four candidates, one instructor and one machine. Somebody already cutting hedges regularly usually takes the shorter experienced worker test, which is normally a day, and a refresher is also about a day. We confirm the length when we quote.

Tell us at enquiry if your team uses them, because they change the job. The machine is heavier, the blade is further away and the operator is often looking up while cutting near overhead lines or a boundary. We will make sure the training reflects what your crew actually carries.

The category is about the machine, not the access. The course covers working at and above shoulder height and where the sensible limit is, but if your crews cut from towers or platforms they need the access training as well, and we will say what applies to your work.

Enough to keep your crews and your organisation out of trouble. Active nests are protected, the cutting season matters, and the practical answer is a proper walk and look along the hedge before the machine starts. It is also good safety practice, because the same walk finds the wire, the brackets and the wasp nest.

Four on the novice course and four on a refresher, with one instructor and one machine. NPORS allow six on the experienced worker test, which suits a seasoned grounds team that simply needs the category recorded.

Yes, and most grounds teams do exactly that, often adding the mower category as well. The same people use all three machines, so putting them through together usually means fewer visits and less time off the round. Send us the machine list and we will plan it.

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 parks, estates, housing and private grounds work the traditional NPORS card is normally the sensible choice.

Yes. There are no scheduled dates. We come to your depot or a site you maintain, use your machines and a real hedge, and run it when you can release the crew. If you have nowhere suitable we arrange a venue near you.

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.