PARTNERSHIP working by Russell Taylor Group’s Industrial Trades team is ensuring the free flow of a labour pipeline for the imminent site maintenance shutdown at Essar Oil UK’s Stanlow refinery.

Collaboration with training organisation Seetec Pluss will enable general operators working at the Ellesmere Port site to be issued with Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) cards following delays caused by Covid-19.

There had been growing concern in the construction industry that, with pandemic restrictions affecting CSCS training and testing, there would be difficulties for first-time applicants or anyone wanting to renew existing cards before expiry.

A key requirement for all applications – new or renewal – is proof that the applicant has passed the relevant Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) health, safety and environmental test within the past two years.

Stuart Watson, national business development manager for Russell Taylor Group’s Industrial Trades and Engineering Division, said: “Getting these tests successfully completed again is really good news as we prepare for the annual maintenance shutdown at Stanlow in September.

“The issue of CSCS cards is crucial to our supply of a temporary workforce on site and means we can confidently look forward to a pipeline of labour continuing for the three months of this huge operation.”

Russell Taylor Group will be putting between 70 and 100 technical specialist operators – from engineers and mechanics to industrial cleaning experts – on site at Essar Oil UK, the world’s first low-carbon hydrogen plant.

Stanlow, as a key strategic national and regional asset, each year produces a sixth of the UK's road transport fuels while playing a key role in Britain's broader petrochemical industry and leading its transition to low carbon by 2050.