CITB, IPAF, PASMA and First Aid at Four Northern Centres
Training 4 Industry runs site safety cards, powered access, first aid and plant training from four centres — Bolton in Greater Manchester, Rotherham and Sheffield in South Yorkshire, and Misterton in north Nottinghamshire. The spread covers both sides of the Pennines and the M1 corridor, which suits contractors moving crews between sites rather than working from a single base. Everything is classroom delivered.
CITB Site Safety Plus — the full card range
SEATS — site environmental awareness
The
CITB Site Environmental Awareness Training Scheme runs at Bolton and Rotherham. It sits alongside the safety cards rather than replacing any of them, and covers the environmental duties that increasingly appear in principal contractor requirements — waste, pollution incidents, protected species and nuisance. Worth knowing it exists, because it is often the card a site asks for late.
First aid — all four centres
IPAF powered access and harness
IPAF 1b, 3a and 3b Operator runs at Bolton and Sheffield, covering static vertical, mobile vertical and mobile boom machines in one combined category set. Sheffield also carries Harness Awareness and User, and the combined Harness Awareness, User and Inspection course for people who check equipment as well as wear it. The PAL card is valid for five years.
PASMA towers and work at height
PASMA Towers for Users and the Combined Low Level Access and Towers course both run at Bolton, Rotherham and Sheffield, with PASMA
Work at Height at Bolton. The combined course is the one to take if your people use podiums and low-level platforms as well as full towers — the two are separate competencies and a Towers card alone does not cover low level access equipment.
Confined space and plant
Confined Space Medium Risk runs at Bolton — the tier covering entry where escape may require assistance but not full breathing apparatus. FLT Novice Counterbalance runs at Sheffield for anyone new to counterbalance forklift operation.
Which centre?
Bolton carries the widest range and is practical for Manchester, Wigan, Bury, Blackburn and Preston. Rotherham and Sheffield between them cover South Yorkshire and north Derbyshire, and hold most of the IPAF and PASMA work. Misterton in north Nottinghamshire serves Doncaster, Gainsborough, Retford and Worksop, and runs the core CITB cards and first aid. The range genuinely differs by site, so check the course you want runs where you plan to travel.
EFAW or FAW?
Your first aid needs assessment decides it, not a fixed rule. EFAW is one day covering immediate life-saving essentials, suited to smaller lower-hazard workplaces. FAW is three days and adds injury and illness management, appropriate for higher-risk work, larger headcounts or sites further from emergency services. Both certificates last three years, and the requalification route is only open before the existing one expires.