I am getting some feedback from members who are feeling confused about the difference between SiteSafe accreditation, SiteWise accreditation and ConstructSafe accreditation. Hopefully I can give some clarity between the three. ConstructSafe was developed to assess competency of workers – it is not a training programme. It will be mandatory to be ConstructSafe competent by July 1st 2017 if you wish to work on an NZTA controlled construction site. More and more client/principals will be adopting ConstructSafe in the near future and if you contract to them you will be required to have all employees and yourselves ConstructSafe compliant. SiteSafe is a training programme that also attempts to assess competency but in reality tells people at the end of the course what the answers are and then issues a ‘passport’ which isn’t really indicative of whether or not a person is competent or has the knowledge to keep themselves and others safe. SiteWise is a prequalification system that grades a contractor’s health & safety capability and publishes that grade in a database that can be viewed by main contractor and principal organisations. It does not indicate individual competencies in your work-force.