National Water Hygiene Training: How to Get a Whole Team Carded

If your gang will set foot on a clean water site or touch the clean water network, every one of them needs the Blue Card, the National Water Hygiene registration UK water companies require. That covers subcontractors' crews too. Each person can do the training online, at their own pace, in about three hours. So nobody in the gang waits for a classroom date.

The three hours is the easy part. What stops a worker starting on Monday is usually admin. Think of a health questionnaire with a yes on it, a missing mobile number, a registration that hasn't gone through, or an expiry date nobody wrote down. Sort those first.

Why water companies ask your team for the Blue Card

EUSR, which runs the National Water Hygiene scheme, says UK water companies want a registration from everyone going onto their clean water sites or working on their clean water network. That isn't limited to water company staff. Crews working for a subcontractor, or for a self-lay organisation, need it as well, so the rule reaches firms well down the supply chain.

It's a condition of the work, not a law aimed at your operatives. The legal background, the course content and the test are all in our Blue Card explainer.

Classroom dates are what slow a team down

EUSR allows three formats. Face-to-face and remote e-classroom courses are taught live by an approved trainer, in person or online. E-learning with an online assessment runs through EUSR's own portal.

A live course means finding one date that suits the trainer and the whole gang, which can pull several people off a running job at once. E-learning has no slot to book, so each person fits it around the work. HSE's guidance on training lists open and distance learning and computer-based learning among the methods an employer can choose.

Getting a team through online training

Three things trip teams up, and none of them is the course.

The first is the health screening. Everyone answers a health questionnaire before the training and assessment. Anyone who has had one of the listed illnesses in the past year, such as typhoid or hepatitis A or E, needs a doctor's written confirmation that they're clear before EUSR will register them. Hand out the questionnaires early, because a GP letter can take longer than the course.

The second is phones. EUSR issues the card as a virtual card in its free Vircarda app, and it texts each person the set-up details. The number can be a work or personal mobile, but it must belong to that person alone. One office phone for the whole gang won't work. Anyone without a smartphone needs a plastic smart card, which EUSR only issues on request, so say so when you book.

The third is the registration. Passing isn't the same as being registered. The training provider has to submit each registration to EUSR, and EUSR says cards typically go back within 72 hours of it receiving the application, or longer if it has queries. Build that gap into the start date.

The records to keep for every cardholder

HSE's brief guide to health and safety training says keeping records helps you manage training, and that you should monitor them so refresher training happens when it's needed. For the Blue Card, that means one line per person.

• Full name, as it appears on the EUSR register.
• EUSR ID number.
• Date of birth, since a register search asks for two of EUSR ID, surname and date of birth.
• Registration date and expiry date.
• The client or framework that asked for the card.

Copy each expiry date from the register rather than the card, because the two dates don't match. Our guide on how to check an EUSR card walks through the register search and the checking app.

If agency workers join the gang, tell the agency at the order stage. HSE's guidance on agency and temporary workers says the supplier must get clear information on the qualifications a job needs, and check the worker meets them before placing them. For training records beyond the Blue Card, see health and safety training for employees.

Put every expiry date in one list

A National Water Hygiene registration lasts three years. Once it has expired, EUSR says the worker renews by taking the training and assessment again, the full course rather than a shorter refresher.

The format that counts for the retake can depend on whether the worker is directly employed by a water company, EUSR says. If any of your people are on a water company's payroll, check with that company first.

EUSR doesn't describe a grace period. A registration that has run out no longer meets the water company's requirement, so that worker comes off restricted operations until they pass again.

A gang trained in the same week will expire in the same week, three years later. Sort the list by expiry date and check it every month. Plan retakes before the dates come round, and ask the provider how an early retake is dated, so nobody drops off the next job.

Who in the gang needs it, and who might not

EUSR ties the requirement to the site and the work, not the job title. Everyone who goes onto a clean water site needs a registration, not only the people working on the pipes.

People whose work keeps them away from clean water sites and assets fall outside that rule. Where the line sits on a particular job is the water company's call, so check the contract, the framework terms or the site rules before you leave anyone off the list.

For Scottish Water distribution work, EUSR says everyone needs the Scottish Water DOMS card, so add it to your checks.

Where The Builders Academy fits

Our National Water Hygiene course runs fully online, so there's no classroom or live online session to book. Most learners finish the training and assessment in about three hours, and results come the same day. Each person can pause and pick it up again when the work allows.

To train several people, pick the For my team option on the course page and enrol them in one order. Anyone aged 16 or over with ID can take it, so apprentices can go through alongside everyone else. If the gang needs the Blue Card as well as other site safety courses, our workforce health and safety training page has a call-back form to talk it through.

The course is the quick bit. This week, get the health questionnaires answered, collect a mobile number for every worker and start the expiry list. Then enrol the team.

Frequently asked questions