What Is the SEATS Course and Who Needs It?

SEATS stands for the Site Environmental Awareness Training Scheme. It is a 1-day CITB course that gives site supervisors and managers a working understanding of environmental issues on a construction site. It is part of the CITB Site Safety Plus scheme, sitting alongside the safety courses and covering the environmental side of running a site.

What the course covers

The day brings you up to date on environmental and sustainability matters, the relevant legislation and industry best practice. The practical aim is simple: when you walk back on site, you can identify, control and minimise the environmental impact of the work you manage, from waste and pollution risks to the sustainability requirements that clients and main contractors now build into their contracts.

Who needs SEATS?

SEATS is for the people who run the site day to day: supervisors, site managers and anyone with named environmental responsibilities in their role. On many larger projects, main contractors expect the site team to hold it alongside their safety tickets. It is also a sensible next course for supervisors and managers who already hold SMSTS or SSSTS and want the environmental side covered properly.

The eight modules, in plain English

• The importance of the environment: why clients and main contractors now measure sites on environmental performance, not just safety.
• Environmental legislation: the duties that apply to the site team and what enforcement looks like.
• Environmental management systems: how the plans and procedures on a project fit together, and the supervisor's part in them.
• Site waste management: segregation, storage, transfer notes and the cost of getting it wrong.
• Pollution prevention and water management: protecting drains, watercourses and groundwater from site runoff, fuel and concrete.
• Dust, noise and nuisance: controls that keep the site on the right side of neighbours and the local authority.
• Energy and resources: practical reductions a supervisor can actually influence.
• Being a good neighbour: complaints, communication and the site's reputation.

How long is it, and is there an exam?

SEATS runs over one day, typically around seven and a half hours of learning, and is delivered in a classroom or as a live online course with the same content and the same CITB certificate. The day ends with a CITB assessment, which you must pass to gain the certificate. There are no formal entry requirements. The certificate is valid for five years.

SEATS vs SMSTS and SSSTS

They answer different questions. SMSTS and SSSTS are about managing and supervising safety on site. SEATS is about managing the site's environmental impact. One does not replace the other, which is why many site managers hold both a safety ticket and SEATS. If you are unsure which safety course fits your role, our SSSTS vs SMSTS comparison settles that question.

Who is it for, exactly?

The course is pitched at people who carry responsibility for how the site performs, not just the person with "environment" in their job title:

• Site supervisors and managers responsible for environmental performance on site, or named on the environmental plan.
• Anyone who already holds SSSTS or SMSTS and wants the environmental side of site management covered to the same standard.
• Site engineers and project staff involved in environmental controls, from dewatering to waste storage.
• Supervisors whose main contractor requires environmental awareness training as a condition of being on the project.

Do you need SEATS?

There is no law that says a supervisor must hold SEATS. In practice, environmental requirements arrive through contracts: main contractors and clients write environmental competence into their supply-chain conditions, and SEATS is the recognised CITB way for a site team to show it. If your projects are moving up in size, or you are tendering to larger main contractors, it tends to switch from optional to expected. The one-day format means the sensible time to do it is before it is demanded, not the week a project insists on it.

Cost, dates and booking

SEATS runs as a single day, online and in the classroom. Our SEATS course cost guide shows live prices pulled straight from bookable dates.

Ready to book? See live dates and prices on the SEATS course page and book online in a couple of minutes.