Good luck with your CSSC mate . Ive worked on sites for over 30yrs and am still on sites .
A reason an agency pays what is a good wage for a labourer is you might only get 1 days work a week , the agency is just there to supply on demand , so if a site needs an extra labourer tomorrow they will ask the agency for what they want and the agency will fill that request .
Agencies just need people to be on call for them and will do what they can to fill the sites request and to do this they will hide the truth, if its a days work that is on offer , they will tell you its a weeks work and the first you find out its only a day id when you get there , another thing is they will use any one to fill a vacancy if they dont have enough of the right type of people ie a site as asked for a painter, but the agency dont have a spare painter on their books at the time so they will send a labourer who cant do the job hes been snt to to .
On site a louber is just that , you will be expected to sweep up, clean up and fetch and carry, very few actually mange to do any trade work . Advice i will give you is get on with the site agent as it them who decide who they want as labourers . If you get on with them and prove you are an asset to them and worth keeping they will keep you and even when they have no more work for you they will keep your name and next time they need a labourer they will ask the agency for you by name .
As for cards i wouldnt bother , they arent cheap and only have a life of 3 to5 years and if the cards not going to to earn you its money back its a waste of money . A banks man card is worth while as it opens your labouring opions up to general labourer, labourer/ banksman, labourer / gate man ect . I wouldnt worry about the first aid one as all sites have the legal number of first aiders / fire marshalls ect for the number of people on their site that are the companies employees ie site manager, assistant site managers ect ect
A reason an agency pays what is a good wage for a labourer is you might only get 1 days work a week , the agency is just there to supply on demand , so if a site needs an extra labourer tomorrow they will ask the agency for what they want and the agency will fill that request .
Agencies just need people to be on call for them and will do what they can to fill the sites request and to do this they will hide the truth, if its a days work that is on offer , they will tell you its a weeks work and the first you find out its only a day id when you get there , another thing is they will use any one to fill a vacancy if they dont have enough of the right type of people ie a site as asked for a painter, but the agency dont have a spare painter on their books at the time so they will send a labourer who cant do the job hes been snt to to .
On site a louber is just that , you will be expected to sweep up, clean up and fetch and carry, very few actually mange to do any trade work . Advice i will give you is get on with the site agent as it them who decide who they want as labourers . If you get on with them and prove you are an asset to them and worth keeping they will keep you and even when they have no more work for you they will keep your name and next time they need a labourer they will ask the agency for you by name .
As for cards i wouldnt bother , they arent cheap and only have a life of 3 to5 years and if the cards not going to to earn you its money back its a waste of money . A banks man card is worth while as it opens your labouring opions up to general labourer, labourer/ banksman, labourer / gate man ect . I wouldnt worry about the first aid one as all sites have the legal number of first aiders / fire marshalls ect for the number of people on their site that are the companies employees ie site manager, assistant site managers ect ect