Smart Awards civils safety training
Smart Awards SA006 Safe Working in Civils
SA006 Safe Working in Civils is a Smart Awards safety course for operatives involved in telecommunications and utility network construction and maintenance. It combines broader civils safety knowledge with practical gas testing and chamber cover lifting. At Fibre Optics Training in Crewe, Cheshire, you can develop your understanding of site risks, equipment responsibilities and safe working practices, then demonstrate your learning through theory and practical assessment. The course is relevant to telecoms civils teams and contractors whose work requires SA006. Check your employer’s training requirements before selecting a date.
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Course at a glance
Classroom learning, practical training and assessment
2 days
Duration
Fibre Optics Training Centre
Crewe, Cheshire
CW1 6BG
Location
Telecoms civils operatives and network construction teams
Who it’s for
Smart Awards Level 2 SA006 Safe Working in Civils
Qualification
What you will be able to do
By completing the course and its assessments, you should be able to explain the main civils safety responsibilities and demonstrate the practical activities within the SA006 scope. Learning connects decisions made before work starts with the checks and communication needed as site conditions change.
✓ Outline relevant health and safety responsibilities, industry good practice and emergency arrangements for a telecommunications civils working environment.
✓ Explain the purpose of risk assessments and method statements, recognise changing hazards and describe why accidents and near misses must be reported.
✓ Identify manual-handling risks, the role of lifting aids and the responsibilities associated with moving and storing materials or equipment.
✓ Interpret utility drawings and job information, recognising underground-service hazards and the importance of accurate information before planned work proceeds.
✓ Recognise confined-space and working-at-height hazards, explaining when the work requires additional controls, training or authorisation beyond SA006.
✓ Describe risks associated with nearby plant, tools and equipment, including communication, safeguards and the protection of other workers.
✓ Recognise common site health risks, hazardous substances and environmental concerns, including the importance of hygiene and appropriate protective equipment.
✓ Assess a training work area, select appropriate PPE and carry out tool and equipment checks relevant to the proposed activity.
✓ Demonstrate gas-testing activities within the assessment scope, recognise unsafe conditions and explain reporting responsibilities when a hazard is identified.
✓ Demonstrate appropriate manual handling and use of cover-lifting equipment when removing and replacing covers in the controlled training environment.
✓ Explain how site security, safe access, clear communication and responsible completion of the task protect colleagues, the public and the environment.
Course modules and practical training
SA006 covers three core areas: Safe Working in Civils, Gas Testing and Cover Lifting. The course combines underpinning knowledge with practical learning so that delegates can relate site decisions to the assessed activities. The subsections below explain those areas in more detail; they are teaching topics within the qualification, rather than separate qualifications.
Safe Working in Civils: responsibilities and planning
You will explore the responsibilities of people working in utility construction and the purpose of health and safety legislation and industry good practice. Discussion connects these duties with the information needed before a task begins, including site rules, emergency arrangements and the responsibilities of the people involved.
Risk assessment and method statements provide a framework for considering the work, the surroundings and those who could be affected. Learning includes recognising changing conditions, understanding the difference between hazards and risks, and knowing why near misses, accidents and unsafe conditions must be communicated through the appropriate reporting arrangements.
Safe Working in Civils: services and job information
Utility drawings and job packs help teams understand the infrastructure and the intended work. You will consider how to check information for relevance and accuracy, recognise service markings and communicate information that affects site safety. The syllabus also introduces the dangers of underground services and the reasons for safe digging practices and trench support.
These topics develop safety knowledge for working around civils activities. They do not provide an excavation, apparatus-locating or excavation-support qualification. A team’s responsibilities must be matched to the task, the available information and the specialist competence required.
You will also consider HSE guidance HSG47, Avoiding danger from underground services, which brings together planning the work, locating and identifying buried services, and safe excavation. Relate these principles to utility drawings, site information and communication within a telecoms civils team. Plans alone cannot establish the exact position of every service. Where information is incomplete or conditions differ from the job pack, recognise the need to stop and seek clarification through the agreed site procedures.
Safe Working in Civils: handling, plant and site health
Manual handling can affect many parts of a civils task, from moving equipment to working with access covers. Learning examines the causes of handling injuries, the role of lifting aids and the need to follow suitable work procedures. You will also consider the risks created by nearby moving machinery, tools and plant, including communication and safeguards.
Site health topics include hazardous substances, asbestos awareness within the civils syllabus, hygiene, the storage of chemicals and combustibles, and the effects of drugs or alcohol on safety. This learning supports hazard recognition and responsible decisions; it does not provide specialist asbestos-work or plant-operation competence.
Safe Working in Civils: access, protection and boundaries
You will consider protecting the work area, maintaining safe access and preventing unauthorised access. PPE selection, condition, use and storage are linked to the hazards and planned task. Working-at-height and confined-space risks are included as safety knowledge so that delegates can recognise situations needing further controls.
SA006 does not qualify you to enter a confined space or carry out rescue. Recognising the limitations of your training is part of selecting the right precautions and referring work to appropriately qualified people.
Gas Testing: knowledge and practical activities
This part of SA006 addresses hazardous atmospheres associated with underground telecoms structures and relevant operational locations. Knowledge includes gas hazards, detection equipment, water-testing requirements and the need to report unsafe conditions. You will connect these topics with the site-specific risk assessment and the checks required on equipment.
Practical learning develops the gas-testing activities required by the qualification using suitable training arrangements. The emphasis is on correct equipment use, recognising conditions that affect safety and communicating the findings. The course page describes the learning scope; detailed working methods are taught and assessed during delivery.
Cover Lifting: knowledge and practical activities
You will examine cover types, handling risks and the equipment used to remove and replace joint-box and carriageway covers. Practical activities bring together equipment selection, manual handling and protection of people around the work area. Learning also considers avoiding damage to apparatus and recognising environmental concerns associated with water in underground structures.
The activities are assessed within the SA006 scope. Completing them does not provide a separate lifting-plant qualification or permission to undertake every form of chamber work.
Bringing the learning together
Theory and practical assessment test your own understanding and performance. You must complete all three SA006 areas, including Gas Testing and Cover Lifting, even if you already hold SA002. Previous experience can help you relate the learning to work, but it does not remove these requirements. Practical assessment brings together preparation, checks, work-area setup and completion of the assessed task.
Successful delegates achieve the Smart Awards Level 2 SA006 Safe Working in Civils qualification. Smart Awards identifies this as an Ofqual-regulated vocationally related qualification, number 610/5024/6. Level 2 describes the standard of knowledge and skills demonstrated; it is not a general licence for civils work.
You must pass both theory and practical assessment. The published scheme uses an online multiple-choice theory test and an observed practical assessment covering the required work preparation and safety activities. All three course areas must be completed, including by delegates who already hold SA002.
The certificate is valid for three years from its issue date. Plan renewal before it expires and check the current arrangements with Fibre Optics Training. Employer and network requirements apply separately to the work you undertake.
Assessment and qualification
Who should attend?
SA006 is relevant to people involved in the civils aspects of telecommunications and utility network construction or maintenance. It suits roles where broader construction-site safety knowledge needs to sit alongside practical gas testing and cover lifting. Your employer or client should confirm that SA006 matches your planned duties.
Suitable for:
Telecoms civils operatives: people working in teams around network infrastructure who need to understand site hazards, work planning, handling and the protection of others.
Network construction and maintenance teams: personnel whose duties bring them into contact with chambers, utility information, equipment and changing work areas.
Fibre and broadband contractors: operatives whose allocated work includes the civils safety activities covered by SA006, rather than fibre installation alone.
Experienced workers: people who need an assessed SA006 achievement or are discussing renewal of an existing certificate.
Team leaders and supervisors: personnel whose role requires the same practical safety understanding and participation, where their employer has specified SA006.
Supervisors seeking awareness alone should discuss whether a different course better matches their responsibilities. SA006 is not a general supervisory qualification. Equally, being a fibre installer or a PIA operative does not automatically establish that SA006 is the appropriate course. The decision should follow the duties, task risks and contractual requirements for the individual learner.
Supervisors overseeing street works must hold appropriate NRSWA supervisor qualifications, recorded on a valid SWQR supervisor or joint operative/supervisor card covering the activities supervised. SA006 complements this requirement; it does not replace the relevant Street Works qualifications or card.
Entry requirements
SA006 is open to learners aged 16 and over, with no formal entry requirements. You do not need to hold SA002 before attending. Learners need sufficient English to understand the training and complete the assessment. All delegates complete the three SA006 course areas, including those who already hold SA002.
Before booking with Fibre Optics Training, check that SA006 matches your planned duties and your employer’s requirements. Tell us about previous experience and any support or reasonable adjustments you may need. The team can discuss practical participation and the information needed for registration.
Delegates must bring their own PPE, including a safety helmet, high-visibility clothing, gloves and suitable safety footwear. Check your joining instructions before travelling. If you already have a NOPS record or card, provide the details requested for registration. Employer, network and site access conditions remain separate from course entry requirements.
Why train with Fibre Optics Training?
4 Great Reasons to Train With Us
1. Connect knowledge with practical learning
Learning is more useful when you can connect the reasons for a safety control with the task it supports. SA006 combines civils safety knowledge with gas-testing and cover-lifting activities, helping you relate risk awareness, work preparation and equipment checks to practical performance. This gives the course a clear focus for learners who need more than an awareness-only introduction.
2. Learn in a telecoms working context
Fibre Optics Training delivers telecommunications training in Crewe, Cheshire. The SA006 content relates safety responsibilities to network construction and maintenance, where job information, nearby infrastructure and other people all affect the work. This context helps operatives and contractors connect the syllabus with the responsibilities they encounter in telecoms civils teams.
3. Work towards an assessed achievement
The course prepares you for knowledge and practical assessment against Smart Awards requirements. Successful completion provides a defined SA006 achievement to discuss with employers and clients. The emphasis is on understanding and demonstrating the course requirements, with a clear distinction between the assessed qualification and any additional permissions needed for a particular job.
4. Get help choosing suitable training
Choosing by course code alone can leave gaps or duplicate learning. Fibre Optics Training can help you compare SA006 with underground safety, awareness and related PIA training. Discuss your planned duties and existing certificates before booking so that the selected course fits your training needs and the requirements specified by your employer.
Choosing the right civils safety training
Start with the work you will actually undertake and the qualification your employer or client requires. Similar references to chambers and gas testing do not make every underground or civils course interchangeable. Check both the course scope and the requirements attached to the intended task.
Choose SA006 for broader civils safety
SA006 combines construction-related safety knowledge with gas testing and cover lifting. Its wider topics include risk assessment, utility information, manual handling, nearby plant, site health and protection of the work area. It is relevant where a telecoms civils role requires that combination. All three areas remain part of SA006 even for existing SA002 holders.
Compare SA002 Underground Safety
SA002 focuses on underground safety, including gas testing and cover lifting around relevant network infrastructure. It has genuine practical overlap with SA006, but the two courses have different overall scopes. Ask your employer which achievement is required rather than assuming that one code automatically replaces the other or that both must always be taken.
Understand the SA002A awareness route
SA002A Underground Safety Awareness is intended for awareness needs. It should not be treated as evidence that a learner has completed the practical SA002 or SA006 assessments. Where hands-on duties are planned, compare the required practical qualification with the responsibilities of the role before booking an awareness course.
Keep PIA and specialist task training separate
Openreach PIA S6 Underground Surveying and S7 Underground Cabling address particular PIA work activities. SA006 does not award either accreditation. Their own prerequisites and network requirements apply. Other duties may need separate confined-space, street works, excavation, apparatus-locating, plant or reinstatement competence. Select these against the actual work, rather than treating broad safety knowledge as practical authorisation for specialist activities.
Career progression
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Related training and equipment
Extend your practical skills
SA002 Underground Safety — compare its underground-safety focus with SA006 and check which qualification your employer requires.
SA002A Underground Safety Awareness — consider this for awareness needs, rather than as a replacement for practical SA006 assessment.
Openreach PIA S6 Underground Surveying and S7 Underground Cabling — develop role-specific skills, subject to each course’s entry and network requirements.
Explore relevant equipment
Discuss gas-detection instruments, cover-lifting tools and task-appropriate PPE with Fibre Optics Training. Equipment should suit the intended work and be used in accordance with relevant instructions. Delegates must bring their own PPE; check your joining instructions before attending and ask the team about practical training equipment.
Visit Fibre Optics Training and plan your stay
Training for your team
Discuss corporate training for teams with different experience levels, existing certificates and site responsibilities. We can help you identify suitable course options against your employer’s requirements.
SA006 course FAQs
1. What is SA006 Safe Working in Civils?
SA006 is a Smart Awards course covering the safety knowledge and practical activities relevant to the civils aspects of telecommunications and utility network construction and maintenance. It combines broader site-safety learning with gas testing and cover lifting. Successful delegates complete theory and practical assessment for the qualification. It provides a defined safety achievement within that scope, with additional training needed for specialist tasks outside it.
2. Who is the SA006 course suitable for?
The course is relevant to telecoms civils operatives, contractors and network construction or maintenance personnel whose duties require SA006. Fibre and broadband workers may also need it where their allocated activities include the relevant civils work. Team leaders can attend where the qualification matches their responsibilities and practical participation is appropriate. Ask your employer which safety achievements and task-specific qualifications you need before selecting your course.
3. How does SA006 differ from SA002 and SA002A?
SA002 centres on underground safety and includes gas testing and cover lifting. SA006 includes those practical areas alongside broader civils safety knowledge, such as work planning, handling, utility drawings, plant hazards and site health. SA002A is an awareness route and should not be treated as a replacement for practical assessment. Smart Awards requires SA006 learners to complete all three course areas even if they already hold SA002. Check the particular code your employer or client requires.
4. Do I need SA002 or a NOPS card before attending?
You do not need to hold SA002 before attending SA006. The course is open to learners aged 16 and over, with no formal entry requirements. You need sufficient English to understand the training and complete assessment. All delegates complete the three SA006 course areas, including existing SA002 holders. You do not need to assume an existing NOPS card is required: contact Fibre Optics Training about identification, registration and any existing passport details needed for your booking.
5. What does the practical training include?
The practical scope includes assessing the work area, using appropriate PPE, checking relevant equipment, gas testing and safely removing and replacing covers. Learning links these activities with work preparation and the protection of other people. Gas testing and cover lifting are genuine SA006 requirements, rather than simply topics carried over from SA002. SA006 does not qualify you for confined-space entry or rescue; those duties require separate, appropriate training and arrangements.
6. How is SA006 assessed and what qualification will I receive?
You must pass theory and practical assessment to achieve Smart Awards Level 2 SA006 Safe Working in Civils. Smart Awards lists the Ofqual qualification number as 610/5024/6. The published assessment approach combines an online multiple-choice test with observation of practical performance. Level 2 identifies the standard of the achievement; it does not mean you are qualified for every civils activity or automatically authorised to work on every network.
7. How long is the SA006 certificate valid?
The SA006 certificate is valid for three years from the certificate issue date, according to the published Smart Awards scheme. Keep a record of the date shown on your certificate and plan ahead if your employer requires it for allocated work. Contact Fibre Optics Training before expiry to discuss the current renewal arrangements and available dates.
8. What PPE and equipment do I need?
Delegates must bring their own PPE for practical training, including a safety helmet, high-visibility clothing, protective gloves and suitable safety footwear. Bring suitable clothing for the practical training environment and check your joining instructions before travelling. Contact Fibre Optics Training if you need to clarify a PPE requirement before your course. Gas-detection instruments and cover-lifting equipment are relevant to the practical activities; ask the team about equipment arrangements rather than purchasing specialist tools for attendance.
9. Where does the course take place and how long does it last?
Training takes place in Crewe, Cheshire. The course lasts two days. Confirm the timetable and attendance arrangements for your selected date before making travel plans. The programme combines underpinning safety knowledge with practical learning and assessment, so attendance involves more than a classroom awareness session. Check joining information for the training address, arrival time, practical clothing requirements and anything you need to prepare before attending.
10. How much does SA006 cost and how do I book?
The two-day SA006 course costs £250 plus VAT per person. Use the course date selector, choose the number of places and follow Book/Pay to reserve and pay for your booking. Delegates must bring their own PPE. For several learners, corporate requirements or questions about suitability, use the enquiry route to contact Fibre Optics Training. Check your joining instructions and any registration information requested before attending, and contact the team if your employer needs particular booking details.